The Curse of Truths and Lies
by Elhienn Hovercast
Summary: She made a deal that she doesn't remember, and now she's stuck in this bizarre place, full of dangers and misleading evidences... And then there's the fake memories, which makes everything more confusing... Ah... What's true and what's lies? What exists and what doesn't exist?[Haruka/?],
1. Chapter 1

'Heh... I'm thinking... What you deserve? After being such a nice girl… One may think that you must be rewarded right?'

'I don't know~ Do you deserve it? Oh well, I will give you a gift after all, so…'

Don't call it a curse.

"Hey… Wake up"

She stirred, slowly opening her eyes.

She slowly sat and looked around, frowning and feeling confused when she noticed that she was in some kind of ruined garden, the lake had muddy water, and the plants were dry… You could see broken statues everywhere.

The place had a strange aura, and it was very unsettling.

"So you finally came to your senses", said a voice.

She turned and saw… Something, she wasn't sure what it was, as it had a big cloak around him, covering everything, so it was difficult to tell if it was male or female.

"Where am I?", she asked, blinking.

"Somewhere", the thing answered, and she noticed that it's voice also didn't give any clue to what gender it was.

"Huh… Who are you?"

"… The better question would be who are you", the thing asked.

"I…"

"Your memories are there, but if you don't focus on what you want to remember then you wouldn't remember anything at all"

She closed her eyes, breathing slowly while trying to figure out the most basic information about her… She's a normal girl with an ordinary life, and somehow she ended in that strange place…

"…Do you remember your own name?"the cloaked figure asked.

"Ha… Haruka, Nanami Haruka"

"Nanami…", the figure nodded in acknowledgment, "Never forget your name Nanami, or else you will be truly lost"

"H-Huh… W-Well, what's your name?", she asked feeling unsure.

"…It isn't something that you should bother with", it replied, "You should worry about yourself"

"Myself? Why?"

"You're cursed", it said, "Or should I say… Blessed? I don't know, it depends on how you handle it"

"Curse? What curse?"

"Fake memories will be placed on your mind", it explained, "And the problem is that you're confused right now, so it would be hard to you to figure what is true or what's false"

"So… Even my name…", Haruka said with reluctance.

"Don't worry, it's true"

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"…I can't tell you"

"Are you cursed too?"

"Yes", nodded the stranger, "There's nothing that can tell what I am, only you can know it"

"Me?", she asked confused, she knew that she must have looked like a idiot repeating words like that, but she was honestly confused with the whole ordeal.

"Oh my… Looks like you're talking too much~ Who allowed you to that?"

They both looked startled, the cloaked being stood in front of Haruka in a protective way, which earned another laugh of the sadistic voice.

"Sorry, I'm fair, but I don't make things easy", said the voice.

"Huh?", Haruka squeaked when a light slowly engulfed her.

"Haruka!", it cried trying to hold her hand.

In that split second that the voice screamed her name, she thought that she recognized it.

"You are…"

'Hhoho, you're sharper than you appear, but like he said… You should worry about yourself!', the voice said with a creepy cheerful tone, while the light totally engulfed her, making her disappear.

"You damn monster!"

"Now, now, no need to act touchy", the figure said, revealing himself as a male that had strange clothes, "I said that I was fair right? You aren't the only one who made a deal"

"What do you mean?"

"The girl also made a deal with me even if she doesn't remembers", the figure said grinning, his eyes with a scary glint, "I must admit that I'm kind of smitten with her myself, so I'm giving her a chance to undo my curses~"

But that depends on if she survives right?

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**Right now I'm in no mood to write fluff, so have a taste of my horror writing as it's the second thing that I enjoy the most kekeke**


	2. Chapter 2

When Haruka woke up she noticed that she was in a dark and cramped place, so she panicked when she felt the wall around her, wondering if she was inside a coffin, she tried to push everywhere, until she finally opened the doors and noticed that she inside a closet.

When she got up she looked around, the place eerie quiet.

It looked like she was inside a big mansion, in a place that looked like a big hall if it wasn't for the fact that there was no main door and a lot of ways to corridors, some with stairs, others with large doors and some with a thin entrance, where you could only manage to squeeze through.

She went to one of the windows, trying to see where she was, but to her surprise she couldn't see anything, as the house was surrounded by white, like there wasn't anything else in that world besides the place where she was now.

"What I'm going to do…", mumbled Haruka hugging herself while she looked at the corridors.

-Shackles-

She froze when she heard the sounds of metal hitting metal; it sounded distant and like it came through one of the corridors, but Haruka decided that she didn't want to wait and see what was, so she ran to the largest corridor.

The sound intensified, like the thing with chains started to walk faster, maybe it sensed that someone was running so it also started to run, which made Haruka scared and paranoid, looking always behind her back to assure that's nothing, which proved to be wrong move as she stumbled on something on the ground, injuring herself.

"Ouch…", she breathed trying to stand up when she noticed something on the floor, "…A flashlight?"

She picked the item with interest and flicked the switch, surprised to see that it was still working even if it looked very old.

*Shackles*

Now the noise was very close, alarmed, she knew that she couldn't outrun whatever it was after injuring her leg, so she quickly hurried to the window, sitting on the small crevice on the wall, using the curtains to hide her body.

And it looked like it was on time as the thing didn't take too long before stopping where she was, the sound of metal clinging softly like it was being dragged on.

She put a hand on her mouth to muffle any kind of sound as she saw the shadow behind the curtain.

It was tall, and looked like it had long limbs and neck, which a head the size of a human's, the thing. Made some kind of sounds close to a sinister laughing.

She waited a long time, which for her felt like an eternity, before she risked coming out of her hiding, relief washing on her as she didn't see anything on the corridor.

"What… Was that?", Haruka questioned herself, still trembling.

She decided to follow the opposite direction of the corridor, ending back where she started, now with the flashlight in her hands she decided to try one of the narrow corridors, thinking that it would be safer as the "thing" wouldn't fit there.

'I must be careful, I don't know if there was other kinds of creatures', she thought while walking slowly.

The path that she took made sound windy noises that came from the floor, but she tried to ignore it, advancing step by step until she found a dead end.

"Ah… I guess that I need to turn back… Huh? There's a hole on the floor?"

She crouched down, and let a gasp, when she saw what was on the lower floor.

There was…a forest of stakes where some humanoid things with pale fresh tied to the stakes, the space was big and there were the occasional sounds of water brushing at the things' feet.

She felt like puking at the scene and would avoid her gaze if she didn't see someone opening a wooden door and entering the place silently, like he was searching for something.

It was definitely a person, a male teen with blond short hair, and blue eyes.

"Syo…", she breathed, which made her blink.

Wait a second, how she knew his name?

She closed her eyes, trying to focus on remembering.

-Flashback-

"Ahh! Wait Syo-kun!", Haruka said, trying to run.

"C'mmon, you're doing fine!", the male laughed.

"Ah… I'm out of breath", she breathed, trying to run faster but stumbling and falling.

"Haruka! Are you ok?", the blond asked running to her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Y-yes… Ah!"

"You hurt your knees…", he mumbled, with a guilty voice, "Sorry"

"I-It's ok, it's not your fault", she laughed while trying to stand up to show that she was fine when the hand on her shoulder holded her on place, "Huh?"

"Here", he crouched down, his back turned to her, "hop up, I will carry you on my back"

"Are you sure? You said that it's quite far"

"Heh don't worry, you're light as a feather", grinned the boy, "Besides, I do a lot of physical exercises, it would be very easy"

"Ok then", she agreed smiling a bit, putting her arms around his neck.

…

"We arrived"

"Wow! That's… A beautiful sight", she said widening her eyes while they stood there, watching on the top of the cliff as the twilight colored the city with its beautiful red light.

"Yeah, that's why I wanted to show you"

"Yes… Ah! You can let me on the floor"

"…There's no problem", Syo said with a tint of red on his cheeks, "I don't mind holding you"

-End of Flashback-

"Syo-kun…", she whispered fondly opening her eyes and looking back at the hole and gasping when he saw the blond standing in the middle of the stakes while trying to pick something that was stuck in one of the humanoid mouth.

"Ah!", she let a muffled shriek when the thing's hand held the blonds' arm and the other's imprisoned on the stakes started to move, twisting in weird angles.

"Ah! I need to do something to help him!", she said looking around in a frenzy.

She looked at the flashlight on her hand and suddenly an idea came to her mind.

Positioning the flashlight she switched the button, the strong light hitting the creature and distracting it, making the others twist their faces until they could look up.

Haruka muffles another screams when she saw that the creatures had a big slit on their faces with a lot of eyes glaring from it.

The teen also looked startled and looked up, almost forgetting where he was, so Haruka flickered the light, which made him come to his senses and take something that looked like a key, running out of the place, the wooden door closing behind him.

Nanami switched off the flashlight and breathed in relief, while backing away from the hole, hoping that the male would be ok.

"Ah… Syo-kun… Be safe", she silently prayed.

She stood up while looking at her injured leg that no longer hurt, smiling fondly when she remembered how he carried her.

It would be better if she continued, sure, the place was very scary, but now that she knew that there was someone who she recognized here she felt strangely more reassured.

… Besides, if she wandered around she could find Syo.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00-**

**I did the first chapter when I was sleep deprived and not in my right state of mind, but because someone favorite this I guess that I should continue right?XD**

**So… Is that flashback true or not? Hehehe~ Well, when Haruka meets "Syo" we will discover right?8D**

**NOW, as always, REVIEW TIME!**

**GlamGurl17**- Hohoho~ Thanks a lot for the fav! I didn't expect anyone to actually like it XD, and I will glad continue the story if it's for you hehe, thanks a lot!


	3. Chapter 3

It has been a while since Haruka took the corridor with the stairs, her legs hurting even if she was going down, but she didn't dare to stop as she felt a strange sensation of being followed.

"I must be paranoid", Haruka said to herself, but didn't dare to stop, "Ah… My feet hurts… Huh?"

When she finally arrived at the floor she saw two paths, and a big plate that had writings on it.

- Don't look behind you.

Don't look in front of you.

"What it means…", Haruka said feeling puzzled, when she saw a scrap of paper on the floor, "Huh? What it is?"

**-There's a creature here that will kill you if you're careless enough, when you follow through these path you must be sure to not take your eyes from it the entire time, and the only place that you will be safe for now will be the small rooms that lead to the new paths-**

"That's… So that's why I felt being watched?"

She shuddered.

She heard a sound and turned, gasping when she a shadow close to the stairs, with two red light as eyes.

She gulped and looked at the paths, and choose the one that wouldn't let she see what in front of her as she felt that somehow it was important.

Her entire body trembled when she entered the path, with each step that she backed the shadow also got closer, but not by much.

It was a terrifying experience as she walked slowly, not taking her eyes off the thing as she remembered the words in the note.

Suddenly the shadow disappeared, Haruka, panicking, looked around and saw that she was in a small room, which meant that the place was safe as there was now two paths in front of her, and she could clearly see the monster in both paths in front of her, which luckily was in the path that couldn't be looked behind.

Haruka gulped, wondering if the was a wise decision to go on, but when she looked behind her she let a gasp, because the path that she came in disappeared.

Shaking and deciding that she didn't have a choice, she went to the path where she could only look in front of her, and feeling at least relived that the thing in front of her backed away with each step.

'I-It still feels like I am walking to my death…'

She tried to shake the bad feeling from her head, taking step by step until the figure disappeared again, but before she arrived at the next room she noticed that the thing disappeared, waiting in the only path in front of the next room.

When she stepped into the room she noticed her mistake, but when she quickly turned to return the path was already gone.

You can't look in front.

"What will I do? The thing is in front of me but I can't turn back…" Haruka whispered, feeling tense, "I'm pretty sure that if I don't look I will be killed…"

…Maybe she should try to look in front of the path?

"P-Perhaps if I try to walk looking in front despite what the plate says…"

Well, to begin with, why she felt as if the message on the plates was important? Maybe she was so stuck, believing in the words, that she was worried for nothing and nothing would happen right?

…But she didn't move even when the idea came to her mind.

"I-I can't be here forever either", she sighed stepping closer to the path when she saw a scrap of paper on the floor, so she took it.

**-THE RULE IS ABSOLUTE,**

**If you try to look in front of you when the path says that you can't then you will look behind, and if you try to look behind when the path says that you must not, then you will look in front of you-**

"B-But, what I'm supposed to do?", said Haruka staring in front of her, looking at the plate close to the plate, the big sign mocking her.

There was no way to escape now, and that's explained the dreadful feeling of walking into her death.

… She could choose only the slow death or the fast one, in the hands of the shadow.

"… It's how it will end?", she sobbed looking at the paper in her hand feeling despair.

'I will save you! No matter what!'

"It's… One of my memories?", she whispered recognizing her determined voice in her head.

'Oh my… You look so frail and scared but to have such a determined face… Huhu~'

"What's this memory?", she closed her eyes, trying to picture the person she was talking too, but everything was foggy and unclear, excluding the voices.

'I'm a fair person, it doesn't matter how dangerous the path already must be, there's always a way to survive them'

"Survive…"

She stood up now looking determined, even if the situation looked as if there was no solution she now was sure that there must be a trick there, so she looked around the room.

'Maybe there's a secret path?', she thought feeling more hopeful.

The room was small, and the walls are plain, and to her dismay she didn't feel anything wrong, not a bump of anything that could show a door or a hidden switch there.

"There must be a way…"

'Your curse will be fake memories'

The thought came to her in a jolt, which made her wonder if the explanation that gave her hopes would be fake information at all, which made her whole body shake again.

"No… Haruka, you mustn't lose hope", she shook her head, "There's must be a way!"

She took the two pieces of paper again and looked at it, putting them side by side.

**-There's a creature here that will kill you if you're careless enough, when you follow through these path you must be sure to not take your eyes from it the entire time, and the only place that you will be safe for now will be the small rooms that lead to the new paths-**

**-THE RULE IS ABSOLUTE,**

**If you try to look in front of you when the path says that you can't then you will look behind, and if you try to look behind when the path says that you must not, then you will look in front of you-**

"You must be sure to not take your eyes from it… You're safe in the small rooms… Absolute rule… you will"

Then something clicked in her mind.

She looked at the plate in front of her again; approaching it, she saw that the screws were a bit loose…

She put her hand on her clothes, searching for something, taking a decorative button from her shirt; she tried to place it in one of the slits of the screw, using it as an improvised screwdriver.

"I hope that it works"

She took all of the screws, and took the plate from the wall, taking a deep breath; she placed it on the floor while she took the first step into the path.

…And she didn't turn.

The creature looked kind of agitated, which made her on the edge, but it didn't dare to attack her while her eyes were firmly on it.

After she reached the end of the path and the creature disappeared she dared to look behind, and let a sigh of relief that the creature wasn't behind her.

**-00- **

"Ah… That was scary…", she let a heavy breath when she reached a large corridor, walking slowly while seeing the different sized mirrors stuck into the wall, seeing her scared faces reflected on it.

*Shackles*

She felt a chill on her spine when she heard the sound, coming behind her, and in the same corridor that she was.

Alarmed, Haruka started to run again, the fear giving the needed energy to her body to run again.

The sound of metal hitting metal increased, Haruka looked behind her the whole moment, but to her surprised she didn't see anything, which didn't lessen her pace as she started to run faster than before.

…Until she hit the door with a loud sound.

"Ouch…", she mumbled feeling a bit dizzy, but turning quickly when she heard the sound too close.

But it was too late; she felt something invisible take hold of her on the air, squeezing her body slowly.

Panicking Haruka tried to think on a way to escape while she felt the grip tighten more and more, and she was sure that if she didn't act quickly her body would break in the invisible hands.

She gripped her hands with strength when it started to hurt, which made her notice something on her hand.

The flashlight.

"That's it! When I used the flashlight, the creatures got distracted, maybe…"

She used all of her willpower to resist to the pain and switched the button on, the light making visible the part where it touched, and blinding the creature for a moment, which made it drop Haruka with a thud.

Haruka, almost not believing that she was saved, took the flashlight and clumsily opened the door to the other room, flashing the light in what' supposed to be the horrible creature's eyes, that had red in the center with black and white around, red veins everywhere which made it more disturbing.

She closed the door quickly behind her and looked around, feeling despair when she saw that was a closed room.

"What can I do?", she thought, her heart beating fast.

Hide.

She clumsily walked around looking at the half destroyed furniture, trying to find a place to hide, but without much success.

*BAM!*

Haruka looked startled and looked behind her, seeing a crack in the door, calculating that it wouldn't take long until it was totally broken apart, so she looked around.

"Ah! There's a small hole on the wall, I can squeeze into it!"

And to her lucky she did it in time, as pieces of the big door flew everywhere, the sound of chains being the only sound in that place, besides her breathing, that she thought that was too loud for her liking.

'Please… Go away'

The invisible creature wandered a bit more inside the room, letting a frustrated growl he went outside, clearly thinking that his prey must have escaped.

Haruka waited a bit more before coming out of her hiding place, now that she had time to look better at where she was she was a strange and big painting on the center of the room, which looked surprising real.

"That's… looks very real", she mumbled blinking when she saw something familiar in one of the painted places, "Kurusu-kun?"

She slipped a finger on the image, and squeaked in surprise when the entire picture lit.

**-00-**

"Dammit!", he cursed, even if he wasn't one to curse normally.

… But then again, when you experience the things that he experienced you would curse too.

He held his injured arm while pointing at the army of creatures in front of him, waving his flashlight in a hopeless way.

"I can't believe it… Now that I discovered a way to escape this place!", the blue eyed blond cursed.

There to many of the invisible abominations there, and he couldn't flash the light directly on the eyes of one for too long, and it only stunned him for a few moments.

And he was weak and tired, he couldn't outrun them.

"Ugh, that's a dead end", he mumbled looking behind him while his feet hit the big mirror which reflected… A girl?

"Huh?", he blinked in confusion when a sudden light appeared and he fell backwards.

** -00-**

Haruka got surprised when she saw someone falling on her arms, so she stumbled and both fell on the floor soundly, the light disappearing after the young teen passed the portal.

"Ack… That hurts", the male mumbled holding his arm.

"A-Are you ok?", Nanami asked feeling concerned.

The male must have finally noticed that there was someone else there besides him, blinking, he lift his gaze to meet the girl's which also blinked in response, their faces so close that he could perfectly see each detail of her face.

"…"

"…"

"A-Ah! Sorry!", both shrieked backing off.

"Ah… I… I"

"Er…"

Both were too shocked beyond words, like they didn't believe that they were seeing another human being in that cursed place.

Haruka took a big breath trying to calm herself, placing a hand on her chest she smiled, happy to see her friend well.

"I-It's a relief to see that you're alive… Kurusu-kun", she laughed with relief.

"…Do I know you?", the male blinked, confusion written on his face while she froze on the spot.

'… I curse you with fake memories'

So the memories that she had about the blond boy were fake?

Her heart froze and she looked down.

"No… I'm sorry, I must have mistaken you with someone else", she apologized.

"Huh… Sorry for not being the person that you were looking for", said the male feeling a bit guilty to see the girl losing the light in her eyes, "B-But thanks for saving me… Twice right?"

"Uh? Ah yes, you're welcome", replied Haruka with a blush.

"…"

"…"

"Well…", Kurusu said with an awkwardly voice, "W-What's your name?"

"N-Nanami… Haruka Nanami"

"Haruka?", he repeated giving her a small smile, "Nice to meet you, my name is Kurusu Kaoru"

'Kaoru?', thought Haruka blinking, 'Maybe he is Syo's brother? A-After all, they look too similar to be an coincidence'

"Er… K-Kaoru-kun", she called him with a hesitant voice, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Huh? Sure", Kaoru blinked in response.

"Do you know… Someone called Syo Kurusu?"

"Huh? How do you know my brother's name?"

'So it wasn't a fake memory in the end!', she thought hopeful.

"We are good friends", she smiled, which made Kaoru frow in confusion, "He sure was very energetic, and strong too! Once he carried me to the top of the cliff to see the sunset, it was a marvelous sight!"

"Uh…", mumbled Kaoru looking at her like she was mad, "Sorry, but there must be a mistake"

"B-But you said that you have a brother called Syo right?", asked Haruka widening her eyes, a strange and dreadful feeling making her heart tight.

"Yes…", confirmed Kaoru with a sorrowful look, "But he's dead."

"Oh…", she let a horrified gasp.

"And… There's no way that you could ever met him", said Kaoru looking down, "We're twins, but because he was born with a weak heart he… Died in the day that I was born."

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… **That must be the first time that I'm featuring Kaoru in one of my fanfics huh? Heheh~**

**Tragic right? But don't worry, one of the things that I like the most about horror games is that after all of the struggles when we reach the Happy ending everything will be joyful!**

…**And what a twist! It seems that Haruka's memories of Syo are fake! But what is Kaoru doing in that horrible place?Dun Dun,more revelations in the next chapter!**

…

**Now Review Time!**

**Brandnewmelody**- It's a shame that because of the initial content of my fanfic no one will want to read it, because damn! It will be heart wrecking and awesome! Hehe~ I'm glad that you liked this fanfic, because the heartwarming scenes will be worth of your time!


	4. Chapter 4

'There's no way that you could ever met him'

'We're twins, but because he was born with a weak heart he… Died in the day that I was born'

Haruka put a hand on her mouth in total shock and horror, she sobbed feeling a horrible pain in her chest.

If the Syo in her memory never existed then why she was suffering so much? Maybe it's the fact that he did exist but died? That's why she felt sad? How could she care so much for a memory?

Kaoru looked lost, he didn't understand why the girl in front of him cried like that, but for some reason he cared, so he clumsily put an arm around her in a half hug, because his other arm was still injured.

"I… Don't understand why you're crying but… Thanks", he patted her head, "For crying for my brother"

"I… So in the end the memory that I have is fake"

"Fake memories?"

"Yes… I was cursed to have fake memories mixed with my real ones", she explained looking down, "I never thought for a second that what I saw could be fake"

"I see… So you're also cursed", said Kaoru with sympathy.

"Then, you too…?"

"Yes", he nodded, "But I prefer to not talk about it as… I prefer to not remember my curse"

He looked to the other side, clearly disturbed, so Haruka didn't want to try and push him.

"Say… What's the reason for you being here?", asked Kaoru after a time.

"I-I'm not sure but… I think that I wanted to save someone"

"I see… So we have the same wish", Kaoru smiled weakly.

"Huh?"

"You see, I made a contract because I wanted to save my older dead brother", Kaoru explained with a half hearted laugh, "But in trade for that I must survive this place and escape"

"I-I see"

"I…", he looked hesitantly at her, feeling suddenly shy, "I found a clue to get out, if you want we can stick together until then"

"I would love to", Haruka smiled weakly, "It's better to have someone to travel with on this horrible place"

"Yes", he smiled in response, agreeing with the girl, "Huh… Hey, how did you warp me?"

"Huh? Ah, that… I saw you in one the pictures in this big square and put a finger on it, so a light appeared and you fell from it"

"Oh…", he blinked his eyes, looking to the picture, "So if this I can warp to other places and gather what's necessary! It's way safer if I use this!"

"Er… I think it isn't that easy"

"Huh?"

"You see, the portal closed as soon as you came", Haruka explained.

"So… You're saying that someone needs to stay to make sure to open the portal", he frowned in deep though, "Huh… It could be kind of risk for both sides now that I'm thinking better, because monster can appear on this side and I also don't know how long I will stay in the other side, and we can't talk with each other, so… If something happens we wouldn't know when to open it"

He sighed in frustration, when he finally though that things were looking better something like that happened and crushed his hopes… But then again, what he could expect from a cursed place like this?

"Ah… I don't know what to do anymore", he sighed leaning on the wall, feeling very tired.

"You… Look very tired"

"I was constantly in danger so I didn't have time to find a hiding and rest", he explained.

"There's… A crack on the wall, you can use it as a hiding, so you can sleep there", Haruka said, pointing to it.

"Huh… It seems good enough so nothing can find me", he blinked, sleepy.

"Don't fight it, you will be safe for now", said Haruka gently taking his hand and helping him get to the crack, "We need energy to survive here"

"Yes…"

As soon as he made himself comfortable inside the hole he closed his eyes and slept, which showed how tired he was.

Haruka stood close to the entrance staring at the boy, remembering with an ache on her chest how similar he looked to the boy in her memories that she never met.

'It doesn't matter… At least it's a good thing that I met someone here', she shook her head to dissipate negative thoughts when she heard some turning.

Kaoru was frowning in his sleep, like he was having a horrible nightmare (which wouldn't surprise her), Haruka, without thinking, put a hand on his head, trailing her finger softly through his hair, trying to soothe him.

It seemed as it worked as he stopped struggling and leaned in her touch, feeling more peaceful now.

How long he was in this place? Even if she didn't expend a lot of time here she knew that it wearied her off, she wasn't even sure how she survived until now.

"Must… Find the library…", Kaoru mumbled.

Haruka blinked when she heard the words, carefully looking closer at him, he saw how he held a piece of paper firmly in his hand, so she gently took it to get a look.

**-I need to get to the library and find the crystal tome-**

"Crystal…?", Haruka mumbled looking at him.

*Roar*

She was startled, and looked back at her with worry, and not seeing anything, which made her more apprehensive as the last time she was attacked by something invisible.

She looked back at the scrap of paper on her hands, and knew what she needed to do.

"Kaoru-kun… You will be safe", she whispered close to the sleeping male's ear, which made him squirm for a second, but he didn't wake up, "…I will be back, don't worry"

She didn't want to part from her company as soon as she found him, but she knew that there was no choice, as that place didn't have any other hiding and they needed to pick the next item fast if they wanted to get out.

She placed her hand on the picture with a library, making a portal appear, so went right through it.

**-00-**

When she arrived she got surprised when she saw that the place was big, and that there was books floating above her head, with a big and blue book resting on a pillar, it looked as the cover was made of sculpted ice.

"That must be the crystal book", she thought, but didn't move closer to the book, "…I think it would be too easy to just go and take it, it's better if I take a look around"

She looked through all of the shelves in curiosity, scamming the titles of the books until something picked her attention, a small book, that could be carried on her pocket and that had a sparkling blue cover.

"The fairytale of Blue", she read, looking puzzled, but flipping the book open.

-There was once a blue haired beauty, the one born from grace and serenity, that granted the desire of a heart who in trade required a secret

The Graceful Blue had friends in Red and Blue, while he had enemies on Purple and White, the distaste born from pride.

The Blue adores the Black, even if he was a detestable existence, and would do everything to him

…And so, The Serene Blue, died-

"What a… Confusing and sad tale", Haruka said, closing the small book and putting it on the pocked of her dress, feeling somehow, that the little book was important.

She wandered around and to her confusion she saw a lot of strange things lying on the floor of the library, like balls, baseball bats, and frying pans.

"… I wonder why there's a flying pan on a library", Haruka sweatdropped taking the flying pan in her hands, examining it.

She wandered through the whole place but didn't see any other book that looked as it was made of crystal, so she went back where the book on the pillar rested, as it seemed as it was really the book that she was searching for.

But when she stepped closer to it a barrier appeared.

"You who wants this book must defeat it's guardians first", said an unidentified voice.

Haruka was alarmed and looked around, barely dodging something that flied close to her.

After she got up she saw that the books that were floating now created fangs and were grinning madly.

Run for cover! In the middle of the room you are a easy target!

She ran to the nearest bookshelf, and in time, as one of the books hit the thing, in an attempt to harm her.

She breathed fast trying to think in a way to defeat these monsters, looking around she saw the things laying on the floor so she had an idea.

She took the flying pan, that was the lightest item and a small, ball, hitting on it like a ping-pong ball, that hit one of the books.

The books stopped in the middle of the air staring at it fallen companion before turning to her direction and flying like a furious swarm of bees.

"Kyaa!", she squeaked running to cover herself in another bookshelf as the books knocked the bookshelf were she was.

'T-There's too many of them!', she thought trying to think of something to do.

She looked at the books on her right.

"…"

The books started to look around searching for her when suddenly, one of them were hit by something, one of the books also turned to see what happened when they were hit too by a book.

"Hey! I'm here!", Said Haruka waving her hand and turning into a corner.

The books angrily followed her, but as soon as they did that, they were met with a lot of books being thrown in their direction, a big bile of them resting around Haruka, on the floor.

She heard a noise behind her and saw the flying books, so she stopped, frozen on her spot.

The books dived in, and Haruka crouched down, which made books that were also coming from the other direction collide with them, falling in a mess of ripped paper around her.

"Ah… I got lucky, but I don't think that I will have this lucky next time"

She walked on the tip of her toes, trying to not take unnecessary attention as the books started to circle the corridors, so she sneaked around until she saw that she was back to the center of the room again.

"Ok, I need to resolve this quickly… How can I defeat an army? I'm not strong or fast enough and relying on lucky wouldn't be good…"

She needed to find something, something that could…

Oh.

"There are… some boxes and big planks of wood", she blinked taking one of the planks with difficulty, noticing that it only looked as it was made of wood as it was more solid than one.

She couldn't return to pick other weapons on the corridors as they were infested with books, so she could only rely on what she had there, at the moment.

"What can I do with these?"

The bookshelves.

"…"

She carefully and with some sort of difficulty, placed the boxes close to the bookshelves, trying her best to not make any noise as she took the big planks and placed the on the toe of the bookshelves, like an improvised lever.

"W-Well, I don't have the strength to shove these heavy bookshelves but like Archimedes said: '_**Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world'**_"

She jumped in of the very resistant planks, which made one of the shelves falls on other like a line of dominos, startling the books that didn't had time to escape.

She did the same with the other shelves, and soon the place was covered in dust and fallen books and bookshelves.

"Cough!", Haruka coughed because of the dust, walking right to the pillar and placing a hand on it, which to her confusion still held the barrier.

"Huh? Didn't I destroy all books?"

Like an answer something hit her arm and latched on it, digging it fangs on her skin.

"Ack!", she screamed hitting her arm on the barrier , which made the book lose its grip and fall on the floor, with Haruka stomping on it in a fit of panic.

There was a sound of bells ringing and then, the barrier around the book dissipated.

"So this is the book…", she said, looking mesmerized as she took touched the cover of the book.

**-00-**

He woke up startled when he heard sounds of growling.

He blinked a few times before staring at the room from his hiding, seeing nothing.

But he wasn't fooled.

He knew that were creatures in that mansion that were invisible, and he personally saw how they looked, a shape so grotesque that he was somewhat glad that most of the time he couldn't see them.

Haruka…

'Where is Haruka?', he thought widening his eyes in panic where he looked around the room, to his apprehension he didn't see any other place where she could been hiding.

'Well, I'm not seeing her corpse either, so it must means that she didn't die'

…At least not here.

He shook his head trying to not think about this possibility, waiting he heard the growling stop.

Was that safe to come out of his hiding?

He couldn't risk using his flashlight to see if the creature was still there as it would be hard to come out of his hiding if he needed to escape, so he waited for a long time.

There was no sound.

"Maybe, it's safe", he whispered slowly coming out of his hiding.

But as soon as he did that he felt something hit him, throwing his body across the room.

"Ugh.. I didn't think that there would be a smart monster", Kaoru cursed under his breath.

He quickly took his flashlight and flashed around the room until he saw spikes, now flashing it quickly around the creature's body, he made sure to aim it where it was supposed to be his eyes, blinding the creature that tried to hide its eyes without much success.

'Nanami…Be alright, I will find you!', he thought with determination while he flashed around and looked around.

Pieces of door, that looked like giant stakes.

"Let's go!"

He took one of the most pointed stakes with one of his hands, seeing as it would require his two hands as it was heavy he put the held his slim flashlight with his teeth, trying to awkwardly aim the light in the creature's body while he ran with the giant stake.

The creature let a big shriek when he hit his weak spot on the soft flesh of his feet, effectively pinning it on the floor.

"Ah! It crouched down!", he noticed as the creature screamed a banshee cry of rage and pain, "Ugh… But it seems that excluding his feet his body is well covered… Wood wouldn't be enough!"

He looked everywhere, but the room only had wooden furniture or dusty blankets, there was nothing harder there!

"What can I do…", he bite his lower lips when the creature launched onto him, which made him stumble, barely avoiding teethes from eating him.

"T-That was close", he trembled with the flashlight directly on the creature's face, which was so close that he could see his reflex on the golden eyes.

He blinked and stepped down when it tried to launch itself at him again, making his fall on the rests of the door, so he grabbed one of the spikes and threw it with all of his might.

Hitting one of the thing's eyes.

'The eyes… How I didn't think of this before? Ugh… Let's see… Ah! This look thin and firm enough!'

"HEY Ugly, I'm here!", he waved, the being giving a hellish roar before launching with all of its might.

"Now!"

He used the flashlight to aim at the other good eye, making the thing lose focus and miss him. Taking the opportunity, he held the long piece of wood with both of his hands and sank it on the other creatures eyes, which made it shriek only last time before it finally fell on silence, which made its entire body visible.

"Christ this thing is really horrendous!", Kaoru gasped while falling on the floor, his body trembling.

He thanked God that even if he wasn't the most athletic guy around he had a healthy body that was in good form; otherwise he couldn't put half of the stunts that he did now.

"W-Well, now I need to search for Haruka… Hum?", he blinked when he looked at the big picture, "Is that… Nanami?"

He stared at the picture with curiosity, and touched the surface, making a portal appear.

"Ah… I'm glad that you noticed that I was there", said Haruka after going through the portal before stumbling when she saw the monster behind Kaoru, "Watch out!"

"Don't worry, he's dead", said Kaoru looking to the monster, then to the book on her hand, "Is that… The Crystal Book?"

"Yes", nodded Haruka, "I-I read the paper that you were holding so I went to the library to pick it"

"It's dangerous! What if something happened to you?", said Kaoru in a worried tone that made her flinch.

"W-Well, I heard a roar coming from the corridor and there was no place to hide here so I thought that I might as well try to make something useful as I couldn't find a safe place"

Haruka started to squirm in an uncomfortable way while holding the book with more force.

…It was him or she was hiding one of her arms behind her back?

"Haruka, let me see your other arm"

"Huh?"

"Why are you hiding your arm?", he arched an eyebrow

"W-Well, ECK!", she squeaked when he touched her arm exactly where it was hurt.

"Blood?", his eyes widened when he saw the red liquid on his hand, "Nanami, please, let me have a look!"

She looked a bit uncomfortable before showing him her arm, which made Kaoru give a grim look before taking his small bag, picking some items and putting them on the floor.

"Sit for a second"

"O-Ok", Haruka obeyed.

"It will sting a bit, but we need to take care of this or it will infect ok?", he said taking a small piece of cotton and putting some strange liquid, pressing gently on her wounds, making her flinch, "Sorry if it hurts, but I need to clean your wounds"

Haruka nodded and waited patiently while Kaoru took care of her arm giving worried looks time from time when he saw the wounds.

"Well… Strange, it looks like a bite", he furrowed his brows, "But as far as I'm concerned the creatures here have wide fangs, so it's a wonder that nothing ripped your arm"

She shuddered.

"S-Sorry, I shouldn't be saying thing like that", he apologized wrapping her arm with gazes.

"You did a good job", she said looking at her arm.

"Well, I at least should know how to wrap an arm if I want to be a doctor right?", he grinned.

"You plan to be a doctor?"

"Yes, and save a lot of lives", he smiled.

"I see… What made you want to be a doctor?"

"Uh…", his smile dropped, "I want to be a doctor because of my brother, so I could save people like him"

"S-Sorry, I shouldn't have asked"

"…It's ok", he said giving a weakly smile.

"… You plan to save lives right?", asked Haruka holding his hands.

"Y-Yes", he blushed because of the contact.

"Then we need to escape this place and grant your wish!", she said with a cheerful smile, which made his eyes widen in surprise as something as happiness looked foreigner to him in a place like that, "The first life that you will save will be of your brother!"

"Yes… You're right", he smiled feeling his chest warm with a fuzzy feeling, "Thanks… Haruka"

"You're welcome!", she smiled.

"Hehe… Ok, now I feel full of energy!", he said standing up before giving a grim look, holding his arm, "Argh… I forgot that it's still hurt"

"Really? Let me take a look!", said Haruka worried.

"D-Don't worry! I can clean it myself!"

"But… If you get really hurt and I need to treat you I wouldn't know how to do that", she said with a concerned look, "It isn't better if I try to clean it and you instruct me?"

"W-Well, that's true but…Ok", he stuttered looking to the side as he didn't have a good argument to counter that.

He blushed like a tomato when he exposed his arm, mumbling some instructions while Haruka nodded and tend to his wound, making his skin crawl everytime he felt her soft touch on his skin.

"Done… Uh… Is that ok?", she asked putting a curative.

"Y-Yes, good work", he nodded, still blushing while covering his wound, "O-Ok then, it's better if we take a look at our next clue!"

Haruka nodded and opened the book, a bright blue light coming from it.

"That is…"

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000-**

**WOW! 16 pages!*whistles*, I think that this fic is larger than the other because of the quantity of "action" eh?**

**Ah, about what Haruka did, it's possible, even with little strength, as I have two sticks for arms and I can carry a plank of that size and I'm not that strong!**

…

**OK REVIEW TIME!**

**Panda Mistress:** Kyaa! Thanks a lot! *-*, and no, I don't think that you're crazy, to be truly honest I'm glad that you like this fic as I'm having loads of fun writing it! Damn straight! It's chock full with dangerous and tricky situations, but I sadly think that I may have to choose which UtaPri guy I want to appear because if I did "7 Worlds" with equal amount of screentime for each guy it would be too long X_x!


	5. Chapter 5

"That is..."

"To open the gate where lies the exit, you first must find the 6 keys that are in different places", Haruka read, "All of them, are placed in special rooms where only this book serves as a key"

"Ugh, we need to travel through this whole place!", Kaoru cursed under his breath.

"B-But we can use the picture to travel right?"

"…Not exactly", the blond said while looking at the picture, "None of the places that appear there are the ones with these rooms"

"How can you tell?"

"Well, it would be 'too easy' and this place likes to make it painful for you", he sighed, "…Besides, I passed close to where these supposed rooms are, the doors have the same color as the cover of this book."

"I see… How many doors did you find?"

"Only 2"

"W-Well, it's better than nothing!", Haruka smiled trying to cheer him, "We should check these places first before we search around!"

Kaoru looked at her face and smiled a bit.

He could see her body shaking slight but didn't comment on it as he saw how hard the girl was trying to stay strong and also cheer him, which, admittedly, was working wonders.

'Look at me… Whinnying at my problems and letting this place shake my resolve… How am I supposed to save anyone if I feel like giving up everytime I see difficulties?'

"… Thanks Haruka, if it wasn't for you I would have given up", he gave her a weak smile.

"Don't belittle yourself", she smiled holding his hand, "You were doing pretty well even before meeting me!"

"Yeah, but I was at my limit", he looked down, "I'm being honest when I say that you saved me from despair"

"Then, I'm glad that I met you on time!", she laughed, "… I'm glad that you're alive!"

"Yes, I…", he trailed off, before laughing.

Both laughed happily, still holding their hands while pressing their foreheads together. The situation was bleak and there were still dangers lurking around, but now that didn't matter, they just wanted to enjoy that little happiness and comfort that they found in each other.

"H-How funny… Why am I feeling happy and why I'm laughing in a place like this?", he chuckled.

"It's natural to seek happiness and comfort", Haruka replied giggling a bit, "It's a good thing that we found it."

"Yes… Huh… Haruka", Kaoru stopped talking, blushing a bit while looking at her shyly.

"Huh?"

"N-Nothing", he said avoiding her gaze and looking at the blue book with interest, "I-It's better if we go now, as I'm sure that we wouldn't escape until we do something right?"

"Yes…", Haruka smiled.

"Huh… A-And I want you to go with me"

"Eh?"

"Well… While we did well on our own", he said breathing deeply, "We were both in danger, I couldn't come to your aid because I was stuck fighting a monster and you needed to fight alone on the library… It showed how bad timing could be dangerous, so it's better if we don't rely on this"

"I see…"

"W-Well, I know that I don't look like I can do it, but I will protect you no matter what!", he said with a determined look, "I swear to save you from harm!"

"I'm counting on you", he chuckled, "But… If you need my help I would gladly rescue you too!"

"Ok, then it's a deal", he laughed.

Both nodded and touched the picture, a blinding light gently engulfing the room.

**-00-**

"O-Oh my…", Haruka squeaked when she looked down, her entire body trembling as she saw a big abyss around were she was standing, which was so deep that she could only see darkness.

"Don't worry, it will be ok", she heard Kaoru breathing close to her ear, and tried to turn, but the boy held her in her place, "Don't move a lot, or you will fall"

"Y-yes…"

"… You know, I'm kind of glad that we took this corridor", he said sounding eerie calm; "Because it's so thin that no monsters comes here.

"Y-Yeah, I can see why", she said looking at the path that was so thin that it had only enough space for her to put only one foot.

"The trick here is to not walk, standing up", he said, "The wind is fairly strong here so if you tried to do that you would only fall"

"O-Ok then"

"We need to crawl", he said seriously, "Just hold both sides firmly and do it slowly and you will be fine"

"R-Right", she said, slowly crouching, her entire body trembling.

She started to crawl slowly, gulping a bit while she tried her best to focus in front of her and avoid looking down, as she knew that she would panic seeing the abyss.

"Stay calm Haruka, everything will be alright, just follow Kaoru's instructions…", she repeated in her mind, conscious that she was in the middle of the path, which made the black abyss more evident and hard to not look at.

… So she decided to look behind her and saw that Kaoru didn't move from the spot where she last saw him.

"Humm… Kaoru? Why are you still there?"

"Huh?", Kaoru blinked startled, before acquiring a colorful shade of red, avoiding her gaze, "W-Well, it wouldn't be safe if I came along, as it would put too much pressure on the path"

"O-Oh I see, it makes sense"

"Y-Yeah", he replied weakly.

No… That wasn't the real reason, the path was resistant enough to endure their weight, but if he crawled right after her… Her butt would be in front of his face and it would be hard to not stare…

…He was pretty sure that he would be distracted enough to fall into the abyss.

'God, I'm such a pervert…', he thought flushing a bit and feeling a bit ashamed.

"A-Ah… I did it!", said Haruka finally standing up, in a safe place, close to the blue door.

"O-Ok, I will be right there!", he said snapping of his thoughts.

After a while~

When Kaoru finally arrived he took the blue tome from his bag, putting it in a hole with the exact shape on the door, making it open slowly with a loud noise.

"Ah! That's the first room", whispered Haruka feeling tense.

The room had a lot of knight armor holding lances, swords or halberds, but none of them moved when they stepped inside them room.

"Huh… Nothing happened … Where do you think that the key is?", asked Haruka looking to Kaoru, "Kaoru-kun?"

Kaoru didn't answer her question, he looked like he was frozen on the spot, his eyes unfocused while a strange blue light shone from them.

"Kaoru…kun?", called Haruka worried.

Kaoru blinked a few times before his eyes went back to normal, looking alarmed to the center of the room, where was a statue sitting, a big table in front of it.

"You search for the key from this room?", came the strong voice from the statue on the center.

"Yes…", answered Kaoru frowing.

"You two are the challengers?"

"Y-Yes", confirmed Haruka.

"Very well, the game is simply", the statue said, "its 3 games, you must win twice of win one and draw in the other, or else…"

The armors on the corner made some menacing movements before returning to their initial position.

"… I will be fair to you so listen well as I will say only once: My skill depends of my opponent and a fool has more chance to win than a master of this game"

"And what's the game?", asked Haruka feeling nervous.

"Tic-Tac-Toe"

"…"

What?

"Uh… Really?"

"Like I said, a simply game, but the outcome will decide if you win or if you die."

"…I will challenge you", said Kaoru frowning.

"Very well, take your seat"

He nodded and sat in silence, looking very serious and focused.

'I know a perfect way to win this game… If I use this strategy I will win for sure!'

"…But first, we need to choose who starts", said the statue making a dice appears, "Whoever gets the highest number will start first"

'… I hope I get a high number', he sweated while he took the dice and threw it on the table.

-1-

"Well… Unless I also ge will start huh?", the statue nodded, throwing the dice.

-3-

"Huh… It seems like I will start"

'Crap! However starts in this game has a higher chance to win'

"Let's see… I will start with nought on the upper right"

"Upper… Then I choose lower right!"

'Please… Don't choose the lower left'

"…Lower Left"

"…Middle"

"Upper left… I won", declared the statue.

"Huh? But… you didn't complete it!", said Haruka blinking.

"It wouldn't matter what I did", said Kaoru clenching his teeth, "If I put a 'X' on the upper middle he would mark the middle left, if I marked the upper left he would win with upper middle"

"Ah…!"

"…Who will play the second turn?"

"I-I will!", declared Haruka stuttering a bit, but with firmly voice.

"…Haruka?", Kaoru gasped, widening his eyes.

"I-It said that fools have more chance to win right?", she said blushing a bit, "I was never good with this game as people always outsmarted me… So… Maybe I have a chance in this case!"

"I…"

"The challenger was recognized", the statue announced, "Please take your place on the seat"

Haruka breathed slowly and put a hand on Kaoru's shoulder, which made the teen hesitate a bit before nodding and letting her sit on his place.

"Now, we need to choose who starts first", the statue announced.

Haruka nodded, taking the dice and throwing it on the table.

-6-

"If I don't pull the same number you will start first", the voice said again, throwing the dice.

-1-

"I-I will start right? Huh… L-Lower left!"

"… Middle right"

'Middle right? What a strange choice… And it doesn't stand on the way of her choices… That's pretty random', observed Kaoru.

"U-Upper right!"

"Middle"

"M-Middle Left!"

'It will be a tie…', Kaoru widened his eyes.

They would lose.

"…Lower right"

Wait what?

"Ah… Upper Left!", Haruka breathed, relief washing on her when she saw her crosses forming a line, "A-Ah… I won."

'…If it chose the Upper Left she would probably tie on the other turn and it would win but… It didn't, why's that?'.

'Please, don't choose the lower right…'

'Oh crap, please! Not the upper left…'

"Maybe…", he mumbled, an idea forming in his mind.

"… Who will play the last turn?", the voice asked.

"Ah…"

"Wait a minute", Kaoru said putting his hand on Haruka's shoulder, "… Haruka, what kind of strategy you used?"

"Er…", she stuttered clearly embarrassed, "None, I was too nervous to think straight so I choose at random"

"At random…? I see…", he nodded, "Then what I thought was correct"

"Huh… What…?"

"Haruka, could you please play again?", he asked.

"W-Well I can try"

"…But this time I want you to listen to what I will tell you"

"Kaoru?"

"Don't think on anything, just trust me ok?", he asked, determination written on his face.

Haruka blinked, she didn't understand what he had in mind but… She trusted him, looking into his eyes she could tell that he had a plan.

"…Who will be the opponent?", the statue asked again.

"I… I will be the challenger again", replied Haruka.

"Very well, let's choose who will go first"

'Please, let she go first!', prayed Kaoru.

-6-

-1-

"You start"

"Well…"

"Upper left", shouted Kaoru.

"Humm… Upper Left", repeated Haruka.

"Middle"

'I knew it! It chose randomly! Huh… Not that it matter as Haruka started first'

"Lower Right!"

"L-Lower Right"

"…Lower Left", said the statue.

"Upper Right."

"Upper… Right.", Haruka blinked, looking at the marks.

…It looked exactly like the first game, but this time, the winner and the loser switched!

"…Congratulations, you won", said the statue breaking into pieces, revealing a blue key that was floating on the air.

Kaoru took the key and placed it on his bag, sighing in relief when he noticed that the armors didn't move.

"Huh… Kaoru-kun, why did you ask me to play in your place?"

"… I finally understood the meaning of the phrase", he nodded, "The fool has more chances to win because the statue reflect his thinking! That was why I lost, he read my strategy and used it against me… And we got pretty lucky with your victory, because if it really had the capacity to think we would draw and he would win"

Both shuddered at the thought.

"So… That's why we won for sure the third time right? Because I didn't think on it and just followed what you said"

"Yes"

"Wow, you're pretty smart if you figured it after the first time you lost"

"...Kind of", he mumbled looking to the side.

…He wouldn't be able to figure the tricky so easily, to be truly honest, the reason that he was able to tell was…

"Uh… Kaoru-kun?"

"Y-Yes?", he blinked.

"Where's… The next door?"

"Oh… That's… It's better if you wait here"

"Eh, why?"

"The path is filled with monsters", he explained, "I have a chance to survive but… I don't think you can."

"…"

"S-Sorry, I know I said that's better if we went together, but for this one I would prefer if you stayed here", he said feeling guilty, "Y-You know, it's pretty safe as no monster would be able to come here"

No monster would be able to come here.

"I know!"

"Huh?", blinked Kaoru.

"You said that the path is filled with monsters right?", she said clearly excited, receiving a confused nod as response, "It's too far from here?"

"No",he shook his head, "It's two corridors from here"

"I think I know a way to deal with them without us risking our lives!"

**-00-**

"Hey monsters!", Kaoru flailed his arms, switching his lantern on and off.

All of the monsters that were there looked at him, and started to run. Kaoru, dashing like his life depended on it(and it depended), went through the corridor like an arrow.

The monsters ran after him, but got surprised when he turned in their direction running with all his strength.

So, they kind of slipped and fell on the abyss of the next corridor, while Kaoru threw himself on the floor, sliding through the feet of the monsters, miraculously not being stomped on the way.

"K-Kaoru, are you ok?", Haruka asked opening the door of the closet that she was hiding.

"A-AH~Better than trying to dodge all of these monsters in a cramped place while trying to open the door like I initially thought", he breathed feeling his heart thumping loudly on his ears.

He wasn't an athlete, remember this fact!

"… Did you get hurt? After all, you slid on the floor in high speed"

"I'm fine, don't worry", he replied dusting his clothes off, "…It's better if we enter the room now that there's no monsters at the moment"

**-00-**

"Huh… That's not what I was expecting"

They blinked when they saw the new room, there was a panel with a picture of a labyrinth and dolls, a trail of points going in one direction or other with a big red button on an altar, right in front of it.

"What's… That?"

"There's a sign here", Haruka noticed, "Adjust the direction, bells stop for a moment and timing is important"

"It doesn't make sense", Kaoru arched an eyebrow, looking behind the panel and seeing a entrance, "Ah! There must be an entrance… Haruka, I will go first, ok?"

"Yes…", she agreed, walking right behind him when a barrier blocked her, "Huh?!"

"Haruka!", he gasped when he saw the girl on the other side of the entrance, a slim blue barrier between them.

"Kaoru!"

"The game of dolls will begin, good luck in this labyrinth of death!", a voice announced.

"What?", he turned, seeing the dolls slowly opening their eyes, which had a creepy red color, like the old blood stuck in their swords.

"…"

He dodged to the side when the first doll came in a beeline slashing the sword directly at him; he rolled on the floor helpless as he barely dodged the sword of another doll after he was on the line of its attack.

"Dammit! These things are fast!", he grunted feeling a bit hazy as he met himself in the path of another sword, which opened a cut on his coat, "Ack!"

"Kaoru!", Haruka screamed, her entire body shaking of fear when she saw the teen crawling fast on the floor, trying to avoid an creepy masked doll.

…But it was only her or they dolls wandered only on the line draw on the floor?

'Adjust the direction…'

Her eyes widened when she remembered the panel, running back to it she saw that the picture now had a figure of Kaoru there, and the images moved, always moving on the limits of it.

"M-Maybe if I press this button…"

**-00-**

"Ack, and that was after I ran like mad from that monsters!", Kaoru breathed heavily when he landed on the floor, hard.

"Hahaha, kill, KILL!", The toy laughed.

He stood in a second and stumbled back, feeling weak and disoriented, hitting a big bell behind him.

"What's… Bell", he blinked when the words of the sign came to his mind, looking around, he saw a golden stick on the floor and took it, looking it in wonder for a second.

"KILL!"

"Ack!", he backed off, the stick flying from his hand and hitting the bell with force, making a loud noisy which made his head hurt a lot.

…It was only him or the dolls stopped?

He blinked for a few minutes, his breathing ragged like he hadn't enough air.

"…That's it, after I get out of this place I will be on my room the whole week not doing ANY KIND OF EXERCISE!"

There was a movement…

And the dolls started to move again.

"Oh great!", he looked around, cursing his careless as he saw that he was in the middle of the room!

-Click-

"Eh? The dolls switched their direction?", he wondered puzzled.

"Kaoru-kun!"

"Huh? Haruka?", he looked around, hearing her voice like he was on a stadium.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes… Tired but alive", he breathed, before he blinked in realization"…Hey, did you do something?"

"Y-yes, this big button switches the dolls path", she said, "And the panel with pictures… I can see you here and the others dolls too"

"Huh… I understand…", he mumbled blinking as an idea formed in his head, "Haruka, can you hear my voice?"

"I can hear it clearly"

"That's good", he nods walking close to the other side of the entrance, "…I can see another room filled with dolls… It seems that I will need you to switch their direction so I wouldn't be attacked"

"R-Right."

"When I scream SWITCH! You push the button ok?"

"Ok!", replied Haruka gulping a bit, but also determined, her hand hovering above the button while her eyes were glued to the pictures on the panel.

**-00-**

"Ugh… These transparent blue walls can be deceiving… But at least I wouldn't be taken by surprise… SWITCH!"

-Click!-

"Ah… I passed another room… How many rooms are here?", he asked sitting on the corner of the room, his body shaking because of fatigue, and his head spinning in circles because of the many times that he rang the bells across his path.

"…How are you?"

"Ah… I can't see left from right… I'm so damn tired… Ugh… It's a good thing that no dolls can reach the corner where I'm…"

"You're covered in cuts…", her concerned voice echoed on the room.

"Yeah… I'm not in good condition right now"

"You should rest"

"Haha… I wish I could, but I'm too worried about these insane dolls lurking here"

"…Don't worry, you're safe"

"Safe… What a foreigner word…", his eyelids started to drop, as much as he tried to fight it, "… You know, as crazy and selfish as it sounds I wish that you were here with me, like the time when you were watching me on my sleep, it was kind of comforting"

"I'm here"

"I know", he laughed weakly, "That's why I said that was a selfish wish"

Why he was thinking on something so stupid and blabbering about it? Ah… He must be really exhausted.

"… Close your eyes"

"Huh?"

"Please"

"Ok", he mumbled leaning on the wall while he hugged his knees.

Haruka took a deep breath and started to hum a melody.

"… You have a nice voice", Kaoru smiled, while making himself comfortable, as the tune made his heart beat slower, a strange sense of peace engulfing him, as he finally went to dreamland.

For once, there were no nightmares.

Haruka slid down, still humming the melody, while she felt all of her body rigid from tension.

It wasn't an easy job… Knowing that only one mistake and that would be the end of her friend's life… It was beyond scary, even more than when her life was on the line.

"Ah… He barely dodged it… And look at how hurt he is", she glanced the picture of the blond that had some small lines of red, "…It says that timing is important… I need to perfect it or he will get more wounded"

**-00-**

"Ugh… My limbs feel sore", he yawned, rubbing his eyes while he stood up.

Well… At least he felt less tired.

"Ok, I'm ready for the next stage!", he grinned, but when he saw what waited for him on the next room his eyes widened like plates.

There were no walls this time, only… A large room full of dolls that held knives, words, lances, axes and all kinds of weapons(thankfully none ranged), the key floating on the other side of the big room, like it wanted to taint whoever survived until that point.

…It was only him or the dolls moved really fast?

"There's… No way that I can survive this, not even if I was fully recovered", he backed away, going back to his corner.

"Kurusu-san"

"Huh?"

"Hide yourself inside the bell on the last room", said Haruka with a determined voice, "And don't come out before I tell you ok?"

"O…k?", he blinked puzzled, wondering about what she was planning.

Haruka looked at the next stage, trembling a bit, but determined to not let her fear get in her way.

When she saw that he went under the giant bell he attention wavered to the map of the other room, her fingers twitching in anticipation.

-Click-

-Click-Click-Click-

-Click-Click-

'What's she's doing?', Kaoru thought with curiosity, but not daring to come outside.

It has been a while since he was inside the bell, and he didn't hear her voice, only the sound of clicking.

"It's ok now…"

He did what he was told, still puzzled while he heard a long sigh echoing on the walls.

"You sound tired"

"I'm fine, I bet that you're way more tired", she chuckled a bit, "Kaoru-kun…"

"Yes?", he replied, noticing how the tone of her voice sounded serious.

"You can enter the other room"

"But it's filled with that dolls! I don't think I could dodge them even if I was in my top form!"

"…It's ok, you only need to walk"

"W-Walk?"

"Yes… You can't stop even for a moment"

"…How was that supposed to work?", he asked her with disbelief in his voice.

"I… Trained a bit", Haruka explained, "My timing is way better but I don't think I will be fast enough if you run as you could be throwing yourself at the dolls' blade"

"It's a…Comforting thought"

"…Please, just trust me", her soft voice begged, "…Like I trusted you on the other room"

'Well, that situation was different as I was totally sure that we would win', he thought, but he shook his head.

He should trust her, as she was making a good job in keeping him alive in that room filled with creepy dolls.

Besides, it wasn't the first time that she saved him right?

"Ok, I will trust you", he smiled, closing his eyes.

"Right, wait for my signal", she nodded, waiting for when the dolls would be in the right position.

1.

2..

3…

"Now!"

**-00-**

Haruka didn't even blink, as soon as she saw the doll close to him she pushed the button in a frenetic rhythm as the blades only cut millimeters apart from Kaoru, which furrowed his brows and tried his best in ignoring the cold sensation of the blades slashing through the air right next to him.

Right.

Left.

Diagonal.

Left, turns back…

She was so focused on keeping him alive that she didn't notice the sounds of banging that came of the door.

**-00-**

-Click-

"You're right in front of the key"

He slowly opened his eyes and looked behind, almost not believing that he passed that room full of murderous dolls without a scratch!

"Good job Haruka"

"Hehe… Thanks!"

-BANG!-

"Ahh!"

"Haruka? What happened?"

"Monsters entered the place!"

"What?"

There was no time to lose, he gripped the key intending to run to the entrance and rescue the red haired girl but…

As soon as he gripped the key some walls crumbled, letting the dolls out of the labyrinth.

Crap.

Haruka held her flashlight, randomly aiming at the entrance of where she was, which made the monster retreat because of the blinding light.

"Haruka!", screamed Kaoru, "As soon as I took the key the walls crumbled and the dolls escaped"

"T-They escaped?", she squeaked looking at the picture, blinking in surprise as it now showed the whole room where they were and the others monsters lurking around.

There was no time to lose, she held the flashlight with her left hand moving it randomly behind her back while she stared at the picture, pushing it.

-ROAR-

-SCREAMS-

-Sounds of something being ripped apart-

"My God what are these noises?", he asked wanting to go outside, but everytime he tried to do that a doll appeared out of nowhere, so he was forced to hide.

The sounds of intense violence continued for a while, which worried him non-stop as it was so loud that he wouldn't be able to listen to Haruka's cries of help if she was in danger, which made him be on the edge, fearing that at any moment he would hear her screams.

…But in the end there was only silence.

"K-Kaoru!", Haruka appeared, entering one of the holes on the wall.

"Haruka! Thank God! I was worried for a second", he said ignoring his wounds and hugging her, relieved to feel her warm body in his embrace, "Are you hurt?"

"N-No, I'm ok", she stuttered, putting her arms around him but quite embracing as she was scared of hurting him, "But you look really hurt!"

"I'm fine, it's some minor scratches thanks to you", he smiled looking at her face, seeing how tired she looked, "…You need to sleep, here, let's find a safe sleep to take a nap, I'm tired"

"Y-Yes…"

When he exited the hole his jaw dropped.

There were pieces of broken dolls and corpses of monster everywhere!

"What… Happened… Here?", he gapped like a fish.

"T-The system still worked even with them out of the labyrinth", said Haruka fidgeting a bit, "So…"

"…You got really good in handling that", he smiled in a joking manner, but when she saw how uncomfortable she looked he stopped, "Haruka, are you alright?"

"N-No…", she confessed letting her tears fall, "I'm scared… And killing things… Even with them being monsters… Made me feel disgusted at myself"

She trembled… How stupid she sounded… Worrying for mindless monsters that wanted to kill her… She wanted to hide her face as she was too ashamed of crying like this, showing weakness when doing it in a place like that could means death.

Strong hands held hers, taking them from her face.

Blue, concerned, and loving eyes were staring her.

She felt soft lips on her forehead.

"Huh?"

"It's ok to cry… Like you said, you're safe now", he repeated her words, "I will protect you while you're weak"

She blinked and just leaned on him, crying to sleep, while he held her the entire time.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000-**

**JOLY WOW! 25 PAGES RECORD IN ALL FANFICS I WROTE!**

**Going to do 2 doors per chapter or this will be too long!**

**REVIEW TIME!**

**Brandnewmelody**- Good thing that you can imagine hehe, as I can't write more details and lol, happy that you like it even if horror isn't the genre that you usually like ^^

**PandaMistress**-My, Thank you, I don't know how I can write romance in the middle of so much horror hahaha~ Yep, I need to plan the others guys routes to be on the same level and give some screetime for Masa as he didn't receive any on the anime poor him XD


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Haruka... Are you ok?"

"Kaoru…"

"Oy, it's me, Syo", he arched an eyebrow, "See the barrettes?"

"A-Ah sorry…!", she apologized.

"Hey it's pretty ok", he grinned.

"O-Ok", she nodded slowly.

She blinked, looking at him, directly at the blue eyes…

That place where she was… Was that just a nightmare?

What a crazy dream…

"Hey… Are you ok?", he asked concerned.

"I'm fine", she shook her head.

"Hum… You didn't see so well, you were screaming on your sleep"

"…It was just a bad dream."

"It must be pretty horrible with the way you were turning and crying"

"A-Ah well…", Haruka said looking down.

"You can tell me about that"

"Huh?"

"The dream", he said, "Of course if you want"

"Well…", she mumbled, "I… I dreamt that you didn't exist"

"So that was why you were crying?", he asked with a soft tone.

"Y-Yes", she admitted embarrassed.

"Huh… You know, it makes me kind of happy to know that you care so much about me", he scratched his head, his cheeks slight red.

"Is that so? I'm glad", she smiled, before blushing a bit, "S-Sorry for saying weird things"

"Hey, it's ok", he winked, before grabbing her hand and pulling her into his embrace.

"Kyaa!", she squeaked in surprise.

"Hey, does it feels real enough for you?", he asked tightening the hold around her.

Haruka blinked before fully embracing him, closing her arms around his body.

That warm… It felt very real.

"So it wasn't a fake memory…", she mumbled, closing her eyes.

**-00-**

"Syo…", she mumbled, nuzzling into the warm body before opening her eyes.

Why… the ceiling was so low? And it felt kind of cramped there.

"H-Hey", said a weak voice.

Haruka looked up, seeing familiar blue eyes and blond hair, which belonged to a beet red face.

"Syo?", she blinked.

"W-Well… No", said the voice turning into a deeper shade of red, "It's me, Kaoru"

"Oh…", she blinked turning her head slight.

So she was really in that cursed place… And… the Syo she saw… Was another dream, a "false memory".

… Why was she feeling disappointed again? She already knew that it was false.

'But what was the warm that I felt?', she thought blinking a bit before noticing that she was embracing Kaoru's body.

"Ah!", she gasped, blushing a bit, "Er… Why are we inside the closet?"

"W-Well… After we finished the second room you fell asleep", Kaoru explained, "And because I was also feeling tired I thought that it would be better if we found a safe place to rest"

"I see…"

"… Do you feel like going now?", he asked.

"… No, I… Just want to stay a bit longer", she sighed.

She needed a bit of time before she could recompose herself.

"…Did you have a dream about one of your fake memories?"

"Huh?"

"I heard… You calling Syo", Kaoru said a bit uncomfortable.

"…Yes", she admitted.

"…"

"S-Sorry, it must be more awkward to y-"

"Tell me more"

"Hum?"

"I want to know… What would it be like if he was alive", Kaoru said with a gentle smile before shaking his head, "… No, what would it be like when we escape from here and meet him"

"Well… He's very energetic", Haruka closed her eyes trying to focus on her fake memories, "And he's pretty athletic too… A bit smaller than you"

"Hahah, I am the youngest but he will be smaller?", he laughed amused.

"Yes…", she chuckled, "He's bold, gets angrier more easily…And he's very kind… In that point you two are alike"

"I see…", he whispered, "…Haruka, thank you"

"For what?"

"For everything", he mumbled, embracing her.

'So that's why the embrace in the dream felt so real…', Haruka thought while embracing the boy back, much to his surprise, '…Yes, it feels really similar'

'A-Ah… What am I supposed to do?', Kaoru panicked, feeling his heart beating fast.

"… I am ready to go"

"H-Huh?"

"We can go now", Haruka gave him a smile, "Thanks"

"Y-you're welcome", he stuttered opening the door of the closet.

**-00-**

"Hum… Do you have any clue to where to go now?", she asked.

"Well… I wandered to a few places and I know more or less the way I took", Kaoru said scratching his head, "Sure, there's some floors and we don't know how big this place is, but at least we can avoid the places where I'm sure that I traveled"

"Hum… I didn' travel a lot but… I also went to some places"

"Huh? What places?"

"I was one floor above you when I saw that… Humanoid thing holding your arm"

"Oh… That place… I think I know where you were…", he nodded, "Well, I explores everything in that place, nothing else there"

"Huh… I see… Sorry for not being of much help"

"Heh, you helped a lot in the last rooms", he chuckled, "I think it's my time to shine and do something useful right?"

"Right", she chuckled.

"Well… I was on the corridors", he said tapping his finger while he made circles on the floor, "Being only once closer to the exterior where I could see the windows"

"Hum…"

"We should try to check it"

"Y-Yeah"

"Well… It could take a while and we don't want to waste our time here…", he frowned, "Let's open the blue book again and see if there's any clues"

**-The mansion is like a labyrinth and one could get easily lost, to find where's the others door are you must find the first key, and they will be a clue, like the tale of blue-**

"…What tale is that?"

"Ah! I think I know!", Haruka said taking the small blue book from her pocket, "I found it while I was searching around the library"

**-There was once a blue haired beauty, the one born from grace and serenity, that granted the desire of a heart who in trade required a secret**

**The Graceful Blue had friends in Red and Blue, while he had enemies on Purple and White, the distaste born from pride.**

**The Blue adores the Black, even if he was a detestable existence, and would do everything to him**

…**And so, The Serene Blue, died-**

"What a weird tale… Wait!", Kaoru blinked taking the two keys that he had in his bag, "Oh! The keys match the colors of the tale! Let's see… We have the White and Purple key!"

"The tale says that the Graceful Blue hated these two, so… The others doors must be very far from them!"

"Huh… But there's something strange in this tale", Kaoru points, "It repeats Blue again, maybe it's referring to the same color?"

"Hum… I don't think so", said Haruka reading another passage from the book, "It mentions six keys, and if we count Blue, Red, Blue again, Purple, White and Black we have six! Maybe… It's a different shade of blue?"

"Hum… It does make sense", said Kaoru in deep thought, "But… Now we must find which way is the furthest from here…"

"… There's something strange"

"What?"

"Well… If Blue hates Purple and White so much then why these colors are here and not on the extreme side of this place?"

"…"

Yes… Now that she said that it made a bit of sense... Why these rooms weren't that far?

"Maybe it's because this place doesn't want to make easy for us?"

"No… I think that the 'Graceful Blue' distanced itself from these colors", Haruka shook her head, "There's a part on the tale that says… That the 'distaste was born from pride'… Maybe they were closer before something happened?"

"It's kind of vague… Are you sure?"

"No", she shook her head, "I'm not sure but… I don't know, don't you think that's kind of strange how the tale specify why the Graceful Blue didn't like White and Purple?"

"Hum… You have a point", he nodded, "So… If in the past they were all close then it must means that this is the center"

…But if it was the center, then how they would know which way they could take? It would be pretty much the same and…

"We need to know the shape of this place", he furrowed his brows, "If it's a circle then it wouldn't matter what way we took…"

"It isn't a circle"

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"Hum… The corridor that I took formed a straight line"

"I see the place where I saw the windows had only window and the corner had a diagonal side… I think that this mansion has a format of a triangle."

"And by the format of the entrance were there were many paths…"

"It's a right triangle", both said at the same time.

"I was on one of its corners so I know that it isn't that way as I didn't see any of these doors".

"Oh! Now we know the direction right?"

"Yes!", he grinned happily as it meant that they didn't need to wander aimless.

"Hum… The only thing that worried me is that this place is big… To go to the farthest way…"

"Yeah, it will take a while but don't worry", he winked at her, "I have a way to tell when… A place is dangerous"

He hesitated.

'He looks uncomfortable again… It was the same as when he mentioned his curse…'

What was his curse? And why it was a touchy subject to him?

**-00-**

"Wait…", Kaoru whispered before they entered the new corridor, his eyes fluttering slight while his eyes got a pale color, a thin layer of sweet forming in his forehead.

There were a lot of blood stains on the corridor, but that wasn't what worried Haruka.

She looked as the blond made a sick face, putting his hand in front of it like he wanted to puke.

"Kaoru!"

"I-I'm fine", he breathed heavily, while Haruka rubbed his back in circles.

"Kaoru, if your curse makes you sick you shouldn't use it that much!"

"I-It's ok", he said finally recomposing himself, "I will go first, then you follow my instructions after I arrive at the other side."

He didn't look back after he said that, looking at the floor he stepped on the tile and crouched.

… On time as an axe flew centimeters above his head.

"One, Two… Three tiles!", he counted while running, before making a jump, the floor opening beneath him.

Haruka held her breath, but he safely landed on the other side, making a flip when he arrived, dodging arrows in the process (she needed to hide behind the other corridor to not be impaled)

… There's no way that she could do the same.

"There…", Kaoru breathed in relief while landing close to the next corridor, "Haruka, it's your turn!"

"I-I don't think I can do the same as you"

"I know that", he shook his head, "I took the shortest route, you need to take the longest"

She gulped.

"…Don't worry, you will be fine", Kaoru said with a determined expression, "Just follow my instructions"

"Ok"

"First… When you step inside this place you need to crouch down!"

"L-Like this?", asked Haruka crouching before entering the place and walking until the first tile.

"… Yeah, or you can do that", he arched a eyebrow, "Ok, next move five tiles to your right and jump until you fall on two tiles in front of you!"

"R-Right I will try!", she said doing a he did, gasping when the tile number 5 disappeared after she jumped.

"You're doing good", he nodded, "Now… Do you see a rope close to you? Climb it and stop at the first platform"

Haruka nodded while she climbed the rope with a bit of difficult, until she was standing on a thin plataform.

"Do like when we are in that abyss"

"Ok"

"Turn right!"

"Left"

"Right and right!"

"Now stop and climb up!", he instructed, "Walk in a straight line"

"N-Now where I go?", she stopped at the edge of the platform, which almost reached the other side of the room.

"Jump"

"W-What?"

"Don't worry, I will catch you"

"B-But…!"

"Haruka", he fixed his gaze on her.

"… Alright", she breathed slowly, stepping backwards before running with all of her strength, landing on Kaoru, that fell backward while holding her.

"Kaoru! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine", he smiled, "And you?"

"…I'm ok, thanks to you that cushioned my fall"

"Ok, we're ready to go", he said while slowly standing up.

"…"

"Nanami?"

"Shouldn't stop a bit?", she asked blinking, "You used your curse's power, dodged a lot of death traps and monsters and you don't want to stop?"

"… It will be alright as long as we escape from here", he whispered, looking down.

"… Kaoru, I know that you said that you didn't want to talk about it but… What's your curse?"

"…"

"Please, I'm worried about you!"

"Nanami I… I can't", he replied closing his eyes, "Just… Please, drop it"

She looked down, feeling sad.

She wished she could help him, as he looked really sad and also scared.

Yes, everytime his eyes became hazy his entire body trembled.

"Please… I hope we find this room soon…"

**-00-**

"Ah! There it is!"

"Yes…", she gulped, but for once she was glad that she found the door as Kaoru looked ready to collapse.

"Kaoru… You should rest"

"But we are almost there"

"You look close to collapsing, and if we need to use physical strength I wouldn't be able to handle that"

"… Fine"

They both sat in total silence, while Haruka looked him with an worried expression Kaoru just avoided her gaze, choosing to just stare the blue door in front of them.

"… Let's go"

**-00-**

"Wow, there's a dense fog here…", Haruka blinked, looking behind her and seeing a sign in the post

**-Challenge of heart: Only the present is real-**

"It's… Pretty straightforward this time", she said taking a step but was interrupted by Kaoru.

"Wait… Don't go! It's dangerous!"

"…Kaoru?"

"L-Let's go back and… Huh? The wall is gone?"

Haruka turned, noticing that they were engulfed by the fog.

But how? They didn't even walk far from the entrance! And where's the door?

"No… It wouldn't do any good returning back either…", Kaoru mumbled, feeling sick, "A-Ah… There's no other way to avoid… Ah! There! It's safe that way! Let's go Haruka!"

"W-Wait a second Ka… What?", she squeaked when the fog got more thick.

She tried to run after him, but to no avail.

He already disappeared.

"Kaoru! Where's you?", she screamed while she ran, "Kaoru!"

"Hey… This way", she heard a soft whisper on her ear,, but when she turned she only saw a figure with blond hair running.

"W-Wait!"

**-00-**

"Ok… I think we're safe now…", Kaoru sighed, stopping in his tracks, "… Haruka?"

He turned, and panicked when he saw that the red-haired girl wasn't there.

"Haruka!", he screamed, worried.

"Why did you run?"

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? You were so worried about going through a safe path that you didn't bother to check if she was alright?"

"Who's there?", he asked looking around.

"Hah… HAHAHAHA, How funny, you're doing your best to avoid your death but… You didn't consider even for a second that she would hesitate right? Blind following you without questioning your motives"

"What…", he walked, trying to localize something when he suddenly stumbled, "Ack! What did I stumble int..."

"…"

There was… Blood, blood everywhere, and the corpse that he stumbled… Had a familiar short hair, with a reddish pink color.

"No…"

That corpse… It was Haruka!

No…

He shook his head not believing what he eyes saw, so he put an hesitant hand on the corpse and slowly turned it.

…It wasn't Haruka.

"Haha, you should see your reaction", the voice laughed again, making the corpse and all the blood disappear.

"Grr… What you did with her?"

"The corpse?", asked the voice, that sounding closer.

In the middle of the fog he squeezed his eyes and saw a figure that was walking slowly in his direction. The soft laughter that erupted seemed to come from him.

…And his eyes widened when he saw himself, covered with blood.

…Or at least someone that looked very similar.

"Who… Are you?"

"Not you, that's for sure", grinned the figure, "Don't you remember the sign? Only the present is real"

"Wait, what does it means?"

"It means that this place can't copy someone's that's alive and here", it explained.

"B-but you're exactly like me!"

"No, I'm not", said the double with mischievous laugh, "But I'm lucky that I look closer to you right?"

Syo…

"You're Syo!"

"Nice, you noticed who I was based on", he chuckled again, "Hhehe~'younger' brother, let's play a game"

"… What game?", he frowned.

"You know how I can't copy something that's alive and here right?", he winked, which made him shudder, "So… You better find your girl first before I kill her, you can't be fooled because of your curse, as it will activate as soon as I enter your vision, but she can."

"You…!"

"Good luck! Heehehe~"

**-00-**

"Kaoru!", she gasped, stumbling and falling on the floor.

"…Are you ok?"

She looked up, and met two pair of blue eyes.

…But the person in front of her wasn't Kaoru.

"Who… Who are you?", she stumbled, backwards.

"Wow! I didn't think that you would notice that soon… Well, no fun, I thought that it would be easier to kill you", the blond laughed.

The figure chuckled more, before he looked at her with an amused and unsettling look.

"Hey… Do you recognize me?"

"Syo…", she breathed.

"Wow! No moment of hesitation~ How can you tell so well who is who?", the 'fake Syo' asked taking a step closer.

She gasped when a sharp knife took form in his hand, and tried to run.

Fake Syo laughed and held her by her arm, pressing lightly the knife to her throat.

"My… What a soft skin you have… And so frail…", it chuckled, taking the knife to his lips and licking the blood there, "Ah! I will never get enough of this! I love human's blood!"

"U-Unhand me!"

"And your blood is too delicious!", he said with a strange glint on his eyes, "It would be hard to be able to taste something as good in a long time and warm blood tastes better than cold!"

She tried to free herself from his grip, but 'Fake Syo' grip was too strong.

"Huhu… I wonder how good you will taste if I lick it directly from the wound"

He tilted his head and kissed the skin on her neck softly, before smirking and biting it hard.

"Eek!"

"It tastes… Wonderful…", it said, like in complete trance, licking the wound and drinking the blood like it was a rare and tasty dish.

'I-I need to do something or I will be killed!', she thought trying to think while the pain throbbing in her neck almost paralyzed her body.

He was still holding the knife, even if his arm was hanging limp, as he was too distracted having a taste of her flesh.

'It's my chance!'

Her arm shook when he bit her shoulder, but she tried to ignore it, while her other arm slowly crept to his hand.

"Ugh…", she squeaked when the pain became more intense, but held a breath of relief when she finally held his hand.

"What?", the thing stopped when he felt a grip on his hand.

"Now!"

She pushed his arm with all of her strength, burying it until the cable in the Fake Syo's body.

"Ugh…"

The thing fell with a loud thud, while she fell on the floor, still shaking like a leaf.

"U-Ugh… I better stop the bleeding… But… The medicine and plasters are with Kaoru"

Kaoru… Was he alright?

'No… It's better if I don't think about that', she shook her head, 'First, I need to take care of myself'

She looked at the knife on the corpse in front of her, gulping, she gripped the cable and pulled it out of it, feeling sick when she saw the bloodied blade.

"…There's no other choice…"

She ripped a part of her dress with the knife, using it as an improvised gaze, that she wrapped around her neck and used it to clean the wound in her shoulder.

"I hope it doesn't infect until I meet Kaoru"

She started to walk weakly, taking the knife with her, not noticing how the corpse curved his lips in a small grin.

**-00-**

'Haruka… Please be alright!', he thought, feeling his heart thumping so loud on his chest that he felt like it could explode.

He should've told her… Because of what happened earlier she hesitated, and they couldn't afford distrusting each other now, as their teamwork proved to be what saved them on the first two doors.

"Why I didn't tell her?", he cursed under his breath, "Ever since I met her she didn't hesitate in trusting me… Why can't I do the same?

Blood.

He stopped and blinked when he saw a trail of blood on the floor… It looked like someone or something lost a lot of blood, but decided to not stay dead as he could see marks of red steps.

"Blood… Is that fake…?", he said, crouching down and touching the red liquid, when he saw a piece of cloth.

…That looked awfully similar to the one that Haruka was wearing.

"Haruka!"

**-00-**

There was something following her.

She could feel it.

"Kaoru… Where are you?", she panicked, running, while she became aware of the sounds of fast footsteps approaching her.

"You know, you aren't as frail as I thought"

"What?", she squeaked when something appeared in front of her, with blood pouring from his wounds.

"Y-You!"

"Yes, ME!", the thing grinned pinning her on the floor and taking the knife from her hands, throwing it far.

Her heart was beating fast.

There's no escape, she would die there.

"Haha… I got lucky", the thing grinned, his blue eyes looking at her with interest, "If you hit my heart back there then I would be done for"

"Ugh…", she started to squirm.

"Oh… Do you feel my blood dripping on you?", he said with a mocking tone while he saw how the red liquid stained her dress, "Doesn't that feel good?"

"You…"

"You know, I'm based on your memory", he chuckled leaning close to her ear, "So… I kind of like you"

She shivered when the thing gave her a psychopath smirk.

"I will tell you one last truth before you die as I like you so much", the thing said, "And it is…"

"…That you should stay dead!"

"Ugh!"

"Kaoru!"

"You…"

"As a future doctor I can tell perfectly fine where your damn heart is", said Kaoru with a vicious tone, kicking the fake Syo to the side.

"Ka…", she sobbed, happy to see that he was ok.

"Haruka! Thank God, you're alive!", he said embracing her.

"…Thanks for saving me"

"It's ok, you're safe now…Huh?"

Both looked to the side where Syo's body was, which glowed in a red light before turning into a key.

"…The key", she grabbed it with the tip of her fingers, which made the whole room clear and show the door in front of them.

"…Let's get out of here"

**-00-**

"Ouch!"

"Sorry, I will try to be gentler", said Kaoru slowly cleaning the wounds on her neck and shoulder.

"T-Thanks"

"…"

"Kaoru?", she called when he saw how quiet he was.

"…Sorry"

"Huh?"

"For acting like that, for not telling you about the true nature of my curse"

"I-It's pretty ok"

"No it isn't", he shook his head putting the curatives on her wounded shoulder, his hand leaning on her shoulder, "We can't afford to have doubts in each other, we need to work together if we want to live."

He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing with a bit of difficulty.

"…"

"You see…", he started, with an unsure voice, "I can see how people die"

"Oh my…", she gasped.

"Yes… Everytime I enter a place where someone died I can see how it went", he continued in a small voice, "…That's how I figured the trick behind the first door… I saw the panic in their voices and how they thought before dying… That was why I survived until now… I avoided the traps thanks to the sacrifice of others…"

His face darkened while he hugged his legs, his body trembling a bit.

"…"

"It makes me sick… I lost the count of the many times I thought about gouging my eyes to stop seeing these horrifying sights, but I knew that I couldn't survive if I didn't rely on it", he gave a small, heartbroken laugh, "I'm pretty pathetic huh?"

"I don't think you're pathetic", Haruka said putting her hand on his, "To be truly honest, it was thanks to your curse that I survived to see you"

"What do you mean?", he asked confused.

"I found this"

**-There's a creature here that will kill you if you're careless enough, when you follow through these path you must be sure to not take your eyes from it the entire time, and the only place that you will be safe for now will be the small rooms that lead to the new paths-**

"That is…"

"It was you who wrote that right?", she smiled, "You saved me with your hints"

"Is that so?"

"Yes"

"… Strange, I feel as if my burden got lighter", he blinked looking at the scrap on his hands, "And glad too, I couldn't live without you"

Wait a minute, what did he say?

"I-I mean! How fortunate for us right? We saved each other before we even met!", he laughed awkwardly.

"Heheh, yes…"

"Hum… Haruka", he said shyly.

"Huh?"

"Do you want to rest?"

"…No, I think it's fine", she shook her head, "It's better if we get out of here as soon as we can"

"…Right, let's go"

**-00-**

There was something different with that room.

They didn't had trouble finding the next door, because as they suspected, the doors were closer to each other, so they had little trouble on the way.

"There's a sign here…", Haruka blinked when she saw the small plate.

**-Trust your heart and everything will be alright-**

"How odd… This one feels very optimistic compared to the others", said Kaoru with a puzzled expression.

"Maybe it wouldn't be as difficult?"

"I really doubt, what with all of the dangerous things that we passed… Wow!", he fell on the floor when he bumped on something.

"Are you ok?", Haruka asked.

"Yes, but… There's a blue barrier!", he said touching the thing that he bumped.

"Only one challenger and nothing more"

"That voice…"

"I candidate myself!", screamed Kaoru.

"No… The challenger was already chosen", said the voice softly, "now please, go through the door."

A giant dark blue door appeared behind Haruka.

"Don't go!"

"I need to do it", said Haruka trying to reassure him with a smile, "…There's no other way"

Haruka put her hand on the blue barrier for a second before turning to the other side, opening the door knob.

**-00-**

The whole room was covered a fog.

"Like the other room…"

She flinched when she remembered that.

"Welcome"

She turned and took a step backwards, when he saw who was.

"You're… A fake Syo!"

"Yes, I'm an illusion", he smiled, sitting on the small and white desk.

'Somehow he feels different from the other'

"Don't worry", he said like he read her mind, "If you die or not will only depend on the game that we will play"

'… It's not a comforting thought'

"Here're the rules: I will show you some illusions that are based on your memories and you need to tell me if they are true or false", he explained, "I will ask you three times, and you must get 2 right, ok?"

"F-Fine"

"Don't worry", he laughed, "Like the sign said: Trust your heart"

"… Why are you helping me?"

"Sorry, first you answer my question and then I will think about answering yours", he said, "Ready for the first memory?"

He snapped his fingers and disappeared, in this place a small scene happened, the images looked so real as if it was happenin in that exact moment.

There was a grave, with her name, and a red haired boy looked to a man that was sitting on her grave, said man having dark hair and attire, his skin pale as snow.

"How I can save her?"

"Well… There's a price for reviving people you know?", said the stranger man, "But… Are you willing to pay the price for that? It's a small chance and you may die in the process, resulting in another senseless death"

"I don't care"

"Are you reaaaaaly sure? After all, the suffering that you receive after making a contract with me isn't worth it, you will regret it."

"I won't regret it"

"Please, don't accept it!", she said even if it wasn't real.

"…Even if the girl in question doesn't want to see you in peril? Because I can see her and she's telling you to not accept the offer", said the man nodding to Haruka, which gasped in surprise.

"… It's ok, as long as she's alright"

"Oh… Humans… ", the man shook his head, "Fine, as you wish… Otoya Ittoki"

There was a sudden flash and "Syo" was back.

"So… Is that memory true or false?"

Haruka blinked surprised, trying to remember anything.

She had some fragments of memories floating around, about the red haired boy… Always cheerful and energetic, her best friend looked like a mini sun as if nothing could make him sad.

"…Ittoki-kun", she breathed.

Then there's her death, as the funeral… Her friend lost his usual light, his face uncharacteristic dark and depressed.

"The memory that I saw now… Was that true or false?"

It wouldn't be strange if he accepted the deal as she knew that he would be the kind to do that to help someone, especially the closest ones… But there was something really off with the way that he acted.

He sounded too serious.

"So… What's your answer?"

"…I think it's false", she opened her eyes, "I don't doubt the fact that he would be sad with my death but… He sounded too serious there; it isn't like him at all"

"Geez… You sure know the people you love really well huh? That's Haruka for you", he nodded, "Yep, your answer is right."

'Ah… So I got it right…', she breathed in relief.

… But if it wasn't her friend, then who made the wish?

…And why she didn't have any memory of that?

"Well… Back to your question"

"Huh?"

"About me helping you"

"Oh…"

"I may be a illusion, but I'm based in the memory that you have of Syo Kurusu", the illusion explained taking his hat and playing with it, "More or less like the last room"

"How…!"

"Oy, I'm based on your memories, so of course I know what happened", he grinned before assuming a serious expression, "Don't worry, this place is different, and I don't mean to harm you… The only thing you need to worry is with the game"

"How… Can I be sure?"

"Well, even my 'younger sibling'", he emphasized with his fingers, "Said that the sign was oddly optimistic right?"

"…"

"Hum… Well, because we are talking about me I guess that it would be fair if the next question had something to do with that right?", he gave her a mischievous smile, before putting his hat back on his head and disappearing.

"W-WHAT?!"

There was her other self… Standing there, with an almost transparent Syo… Kissing her.

…On the lips.

"So… Is the memory true or false?", he smirked slyly.

"F-False!", she stuttered, blushing like a tomato.

…Even if she didn't know that he wasn't real she could tell that it was fake, as the Syo in that illusion looked almost transparent.

The fake Syo stood there, the corners of his lips trembling for a bit before he started to laugh.

"Pff…. Hhahahha!"

"Eh?"

"Sorry…", he tried to contain his laugh, with a clearly amused face, "But you're wrong"

"Wait, what?"

"Geez… You should think more before jumping to conclusions", he snorted, "But very well, let's go with the final memory"

He clapped his hands, but this time he didn't disappear, sitting on the desk he stood there, watching the next "memory".

"Hey Haruka... Are you ok?"

"Kaoru…"

"Oy, it's me, Syo", he arched an eyebrow, "See the barrettes?"

"A-Ah sorry…!", she apologized.

"Hey it's pretty ok", he grinned.

"O-Ok", she nodded slowly.

She blinked, looking at him, directly at the blue eyes…

That place where she was… Was that just a nightmare?

What a crazy dream…

"Hey… Are you ok?", he asked concerned.

"I'm fine", she shook her head.

"Hum… You didn't see so well, you were screaming on your sleep"

"…It was just a bad dream."

"It must be pretty horrible with the way you were turning and crying"

"A-Ah well…", Haruka said looking down.

"You can tell me about that"

"Huh?"

"The dream", he said, "Of course if you want"

"Well…", she mumbled, "I… I dreamt that you didn't exist"

"So that was why you were crying?", he asked with a soft tone.

"Y-Yes", she admitted embarrassed.

"Huh… You know, it makes me kind of happy to know that you care so much about me", he scratched his head, his cheeks slight red.

"Is that so? I'm glad", she smiled, before blushing a bit, "S-Sorry for saying weird things"

"Hey, it's ok", he winked, before grabbing her hand and pulling her into his embrace.

"Kyaa!", she squeaked in surprise.

"Hey, does it feels real enough for you?", he asked tightening the hold around her.

…And then, the illusion disappeared.

'It's just like the dream I had… What it means?'

There was no way that it was true, Kaoru told her that he was dead when he was born, and that he could only revive him if he escaped from the cursed place.

-**Trust your heart and everything will be alright-**

She knew that, but in some place of her heart she didn't want to believe it, because for some reason it made her chest ache.

… After all, why did she care so much?

The "fake" Syo got up from where he was; slowly walking to her he took her arm and pulled her to his chest.

"W-Wha…"

"Does it feel real for you?", he asked embracing her.

'A-Ah… It feels exactly like the dream', she thought blushing when the fake tightened his embrace, 'I-I woke up and I was embracing Kaoru… It was very similar, the sensation'

Yes, it was similar but not the same.

Her eyes widened.

"You are… Real", she whispered.

"No, I'm not and that isn't an answer", the fake chuckled taking his arms of her and looking at her with an amused expression.

"It's… A true memory"

"Congratulations! You won!", he chuckled clearly pleased, while he started to slowly fade away, his body turning into a transparent dark hue.

"But… How?", she asked.

The fake approached her and kissed her on her lips, but because he was fading she could only feel the ghost of his touch.

"S-Syo…!"

"I am a memory from the future", he whispered before he disappeared, a dark blue key falling on her hands.

We will see each other again.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000-**

**WARNING! PLEASE, WHEN YOU REVIEW DON'T SPOIL THE TRUTH! If people read your review then it would lose impact!**

**Ok now… I laugh:**

**HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAAHAAHA HAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHA**

**Kay', Did I fool you guys?*troll face* MAHSASHHASHAS, In the end, the memory was true~ lolololol!**

**Oh boy, I surpassed my record again, 33 pages?! Holy Ditz! O_O**

**Ok, two more doors to go and We will end Syo/Kaoru path dun dun dun~ Anyone wanna make a bet? Who do you think that will go next?Hehe**

…

**NOW REVIEW TIME!**

**Brandnewmelody**- Yeah, I have a deep fears of dolls because of Fatal Frame TAT, And I hope Yan-Yan Fake!Syo didn't scare you too much O_o

Hope you liked the romance on this chapter kufufuf~

**HarukaxSyo Forever**- Horay~ New reader! I hope you liked the sort of romance between Haruka and Syo, hehehe~


	7. Chapter 7

"Haruka! Are you ok?"

"Yes..."

"Huh? You're smiling?"

"Ah... That", she blinked chuckling a bit, "This room was really what it said it was, it wasn't dangerous at all.

"So that means…"

"Here", she showed the dark blue key.

"Great! So that means that we need only 2 keys!", Kaoru chirped, almost not believing that it would end.

"Yes! Let's go! The sooner we do that the sooner we can see Syo right?"

"Haruka you…"

"Hum?"

"Nothing", he shook his head.

What was that strange feeling on his chest? Why he felt so bothered?

**-00-**

They looked around and found it strange when they couldn't find any other blue door, instead they only found a black, tall door.

"Do you think it's here?", asked Haruka.

"Well, we didn't find any other door"

"How strange… It's already strange that there's a black door here, instead of light blue, like the other times, but to not find the second door… And we looked around twice!"

"Yeah, but this is the only clue that we have, the book didn't say anything else"

"Ok, but…", Haruka replied feeling a strange shiver, "There's something ominous about it… I don't know"

He nodded, also feeling something off about the dark door( beside the glaring black color).

He took the tome, which shone in a dark light, hitting the door with a dark ray.

But there was something strange.

"What?", both said before the door and the book in their hands broke in pieces.

"T-The book…"

"No way… How are we going to open the last door with the book in pieces?!"

"M-Maybe it's the last door", she said, looking at the door.

"But we have 4 keys instead of 6!"

"I-I know, but maybe we can find the whereabouts of the door here", she said with a confident voice.

If the memories she had until now were memories from the future then they would surely escape! So they would definitely find a clue to the other door there!

'But why… I have this bad feeling?', she thought gripping the fabric of her ruined dress, "Why I feel like I am trying to convince myself?"

"Haruka?"

"Huh?"

"Let's go?"

"Y-Yes"

**-00-**

The room was messy, there was books lying everywhere, with four bookshelves lined perfectly, and a big, black table on the center, with 6 chairs circling it.

"Ugh, this place is so off, that even the sign doesn't make sense"

**-There'S a waY wHEn no clue is given.**

**the first and the last are the same, second is 5, the third is the first clue, Age is fourth and the final clue is gold for the ones without hope.-**

"Hum… But it must be important, as all of the other clues were helpful until now"

"Yeah, you're right, maybe it would be for the best if we wrote it somewhere… Ugh, the color is so faded that it's hard to see them."

"Are you ready for the last game?", said a male voice that came from the center of the room.

They both turned and gasped when they saw the person in that room, with black hair, eyes and cloths, he had a pale skin and white grin on his face.

"You!"

"Hey, fancy meeting you two", the man said taking his hat and bowing slight, "Didn't expect you two to come this far, congratulations"

Haruka widened her eyes when she remembered one of the memories that she saw on the last door, and she knew that it was the person responsible for her and Kaoru being there.

"Haruka, my lady", the man chuckled, kissing her hand, which made her body froze, "Oh~ Pretty sensitive to my bad aura huh? Maybe I should cancel your sensitivity right?"

"Take your hands of her!", said Kaoru glaring, while he tried to hide her behind him in a protective way.

"Pff… You know, I could easily kill you" he chuckled, clearly amused, "…Humans surely are amusing"

The being laughed a bit more before sitting in one of the chairs, looking at the them with interest, while Kaoru growled at him.

"So… Are you going to stand there and do nothing?", he asked with the same amused expression, "Or are you going to play the game to receive the last key needed to escape?"

Haruka gasped and Kaoru frowned with a suspicious expression, but both, deciding that they didn't have a choice, sat there, in front of the strange and human creature.

"Ok, I will ask you 6 questions", he said clasping his hands and making a big sheet of paper and a small glass with ink appear, a black feather lying in the middle of the desk, "And even if you get one wrong you will still answer them ok?"

They both nodded, paying attention.

"So… If you want the key you need to answer all of these 6 questions right", he said with an unreadable look, "You can ask for a… Advantage, but it will have its price"

"Psh… I bet that it isn't an advantage", Kaoru spat, "I also bet that you will force us to choose these… 'Advantages'"

"Yes, I will", the pale man said with a smile.

"Hum…", Haruka mumbled, feeling anxious, "W-What's the first question?"

"Eager are we?", said the man with a gentle face(which she couldn't tell if it was true or false), "Put the blue books in order on the shelves and then the answer will be clear."

"Books…"

"Oh, before I forget… You have a time", the man clapped his hands and made a big clock appear, "I will give you 30 minutes, and you must answer before time ends or you lose"

"What? Thirty minutes?!"

"Yeah, and I suggest you to start now as the clock is already ticking"

Haruka and Kaoru looked alarmed as the arm of the clock moved, and started to run around the room picking all of the blue books that they could find, horrible aware of the time wasted while they pilled the tomes in front of the dark blue bookshelf that they thought that they guessed to be the place where it should be placed.

"What's the correct order? These books don't have numbers!"

"M-Maybe we need to read them and find what the correct order is?"

"Huh… Let's give it a try", he said flipping the pages.

It was totally blank.

"… There's nothing here", gasped Haruka, looking at the clock, surprised to see that they wasted 10 minutes to find all of the books.

"Is that really a way? How can we be sure that he isn't cheating?"

"I'm the most honorable cheater ever", said the dark clothed man, which startled both of them.

"Uh… I don't think so", Haruka said looking at the man that didn't turn, "Sure, this place is unfair but at least there's a chance"

"But… What would be this 'chance'?"

"…"

"Ugh… It isn't helping!", Kaoru said with frustration, "We don't have time, let's just shove these books in a random order until we get it right"

"It's seven books, Huh… I don't know exactly the calculus but I think that it should be…7!, which is like…"

"5040 chances", Kaoru sighed, "I know, but do you have another idea?"

"N-No"

"Don't worry", he tried to force a smile despite their situation, "I think that luck will be in our favor, after all, you give me a lot of luck"

"K-Kaoru…"

"Oy lovebirds, you wasted 5 minutes with your talk", the dark haired man announced, "Time is precious!"

"Ack, he's trying to make us nervous", Kaoru gritted his teeth, starting to shove the books in a random order.

Haruka just stood there, not having the courage to try and help as she's a clumsy person that would only get in the way.

"It's not working", she breathed, sweat falling from her face as the ticking of the clock got louder and louder, like her heartbeat.

'There must be a way… I feel like the answer should be simply and we can't see it because we're too nervous…', she thought looking rather worried after Kaoru picked speedy, looking as desperate as her, 'He didn't give any clue?'

'You can ask for an advantage'

…Maybe the advantages were meant to be asked? Maybe she should ask for one?

'But there's a price'

What kind of price it would want? He could do pretty much what he wanted with his powers.

'Maybe I should take your sensibility'

It made her shudder; sure, she would be glad to not feel that strange bad feeling but in some corner of her mind a voice said that it would be better if she had it.

"10 minutes", he announced staring her directly on her eyes.

Haruka felt uneasy under his gaze, so she looked back at what Kaoru was doing, noticing with a hint of panic that he was repeating the same pattern as he too, was looking o the clock, fear stamped on his face.

'Put the blue books in order on the shelves and then the answer will be clear'

Something clicked on her mind when she remembered the clue, but for some reason the answer wasn't clear.

The only thing that she knew was that it ha something to do with the books.

"5 minutes"

"Crap!", cursed Kaoru, "Ugh… Maybe we need to ask for advantage… There's nothing in these books that can tell the right order!"

"T-There must be… I am sure of it", said Haruka.

"But what should it be?", he said, stopping, and looking at the girl.

"It must be a trait… We must have picked these books for a reason"

"Yeah, because they are blue"

Blue.

Both widened their eyes and looked at the cover, almost wanting to hit themselves because of how dumb they were for not noticing sooner.

All of the books were blue, but some had a dark shade than the others.

"We need to put the darkest one to the lightest!"

"1 minute"

They both let a gasp, with their heart thumping loud on their chest they started to fumble with the books, looking closely at the colors even if they knew that they didn't had time.

"Let's put darkest and the lightest first!"

"Y-Yeah"

After that they started to shove the other five books, using the extremes as a base.

"30 seconds~", said the man, "Oh, and you still need to write the word here"

"Haruka, go!", Kaoru said, while holding the three last books, with Haruka nodding and running clumsily to the big table.

"Ack, Which order?"

"10 seconds"

"DAMMIT!", he shoved the books, which made letters shine on the side.

**C.R.Y.S.T.A.L**

"2 seconds"

"CRYSTAL!", he screamed, with Haruka writing the word as fast as she could.

"Time's up!", the dark man said breathing deeply, "Wow, that sure was exciting, even I felt nervous hehe~"

"Arf, arf"

"Well, you guys got it right, congratulations!", he chuckled when he saw how both dropped on the floor, shaking of sheer tension, "Ready for the next?"

"Must . Catch. Breath"

"Gosh, for a second I thought that we are done for…", sighed Kaoru, feeling as his heart almost stopped.

"After all this running I bet that you just want to relax right?", he grinned, "Well, then let's go with the next: See the chairs? Find the one that fit all criteria, the answer is there"

He clapped his hands again, and the big clock started to move again.

"Haruka"

"Y-Yes?"

"I will look at the chairs", said Kaoru looking at the suspicious magical being, "I don't trust him"

"O-Ok"

"My, my, I'm sure well liked", the being said, "Nanami is the only one that doesn't totally hate me right?"

"Hu…"

Yes, as odd as it sounded she didn't hate him, even with all of the horrible things that he did to her, Kaoru and the other people that lost their lives there.

…Sure, she felt a bad feeling coming from him, but it was more because of his aura, as his eyes held a sympathetic light.

"Sorry for all of the troubles", he whispered with a sincere and serious voice, "I need to make you suffer just because I like you"

"Ok, I found some figures on the chairs… Haruka?", Kaoru asked concerned when he noticed that she was as stiff as a rock, "… What you did to her?"

"Nothing", the dark haired man replied, back to his usual smile, "You sure took your sweet time"

"… I took 5 minutes"

"Oh yeah, my bad, it felt longer~"

Kaoru decided to not waste time with his antics, and turned back to Nanami, showing her a page of his notes, which had some words written on it.

"Snake, platypus, rooster, horse, human and beaver?", she blinked.

"Yeah, it has some animals carved on the back", he nodded, "This one is thankfully, rather simple"

"Eh?"

"See, we can separate these animals in two groups: The ones that lay eggs and the others that are mammals", explained Kaoru, "In the first group are Snake, rooster and platypus, while the second group has horse, human, beaver and platypus again"

"…. Platypus is a mammal?"

"Yep", he nodded, "I want to be a doctor remember? I have an A+ on biology"

"I see…", Haruka nodded, writing the word on the paper.

"Wow, the word is correct!", clapped the man which looked kind of curious, "Although the solution was… Different of what I thought, you see, I was thinking about the fact that platypus had beak, gave milk, laid eggs and looked like a beaver, a mix of the other animals, you know?"

"…"

'So he thought differently… It's better if I try to think on simply terms or else I will arrive at a wrong answer', Kaoru made a mental note.

"Ok, let's go with the next", he said making cards appear on the table, "These cards have different colors, you must place them in the order that they are supposed to be found."

**White-K**

**Black-B**

**Purple-C**

**Dark Blue-A**

**Red-L**

"Hum… Right order?", Kaoru frowned, "What's this criteria?"

"Well, there's no number this time, only letters"

"It's different colors but… The look oddly similar", Haruka tilted her head.

"Ah! It matches the keys!"

"Yes, that's right!"

"So… The order we found them? Er… I don't remember, which we found first? Purple or White?"

"White"

'Is that so?", he blinked, "Ok, then it's White, Purple, Red, Dark blue, Black and Blue again"

"Huh…But… The light blue is missing"

"True… Ugh! Then what they are based of? I can't think of anything else"

"Maybe there's a clue on this room?"

"Ok, let's search around"

They started searching everywhere, from the books that they saw, to the bookshelves, chairs, the table… And even the strange sign.

"Did you have any luck?", asked Kaoru.

"No", she shook her head.

"20 minutes left"

"Ugh… Still no clue", he mumbled, "I know that it isn't about the keys as it's missing one, but for some reason I can't take my mind of them…"

Haruka nodded, she had the same strange feeling, for some reason she couldn't shake the idea that the colors had something to do with the keys that they found… Well, with the exception of the black one, because they didn't acquire it…

Wait.

"Maybe it is!", Haruka said when realization hit her, "Kaoru, don't you remember how the book destroyed itself when we opened this door and how we couldn't find any other door?"

"True! So we only need to exclude the light blue, which means that we don't need to find it", he smiled, "Then… White, Purple, Red, Blue and Black… Kclab? What kind of word is that?"

"I guess that there's something off… I don't think it's the correct sequence"

"But what… Wait, the tale of Blue!"

"Ah! Right! The order that they were mentioned!", she smiled, not even needing to read the little book to know what order was, "Red, Dark Blue, Purple, White and Black!"

"Huh… LACKB?", he arched an eyebrow.

"Eh? It isn't that? Then…"

There was something very obvious missing and the word looked simply enough, but what was the detail that they aren't seeing?

"5 minutes"

"Not again…", Kaoru mumbled taking the keys off and staring at them to see if there was any clue, but the keys looked as normal as ever.

"Maybe I read it wrong?", Haruka breathed, taking the small book again, "Red and Blue are the Graceful Blue friends, while Purple and White are disliked… Black was adored by the Graceful Blue…"

'Put them in the right order'

"Maybe… What matter isn't the order of what doors we got first or even the words written on the book…"

"Haruka?"

"The order is the importance of each color for the Graceful Blue!", she answered, "Black comes first because it adored him, then comes Red, Blue, Purple and White, which it disliked the most"

"So, the word is… **BLACK**… how fitting"

"2 minutes"

Haruka took the feather and scribbled the word on the paper.

"1 minute left and you got it right", he said with an approving smile, before it turned into a sly one, "Now this one is rather personal"

"Personal?"

"Yep, and it has something to do with you Nanami"

"Eh?"

"Because we are talking about whom like who the next question will be about that", the dark haired man said, "…You must write the name of the person that you like"

"The person I… Like?"

CRAP

There's no way that she could choose who she liked as she wasn't even sure who it was as her memories are a mess right now.

… And then there was the possibility of the people that appeared on her memories not being real at all.

"Ah… What to do… What to do…", she mumbled, lost in her thoughts.

"This question isn't fair at all!", said Kaoru, "With the way that her memories are mixed she wouldn't be able to tell who was her friend or not!"

"It's more than fair, it's super easy to answer", the dark figure replied, giving a provocative smile, "But… I don't think it's the real issue right?"

"What…"

"Do you fear that her answer wouldn't be your name?"

"…"

He froze on the spot, speechless.

"A question from the heart is harder to solve than a simply question of logic right?"

"…"

Meanwhile, unaware of the conversation between the two males Haruka tried to think hard of the trick behind the question, as she got the part about it being easy to answer.

The person she liked…

Maybe it was better if she narrowed the answer to people that she knew that were real? After all, he didn't specify who…

Oh.

He meant anyone that she liked.

'Ok, so there's Ittoki-san, Syo-kun and Kaoru-san…', she listed, "Hum… It would feel kind of awkward if I used Kaoru's name and he could get the wrong idea so it must be better if I choose Ittoki's or Syo's name…'

"10 minutes"

"I got it!", she said, writing a name.

**-Syo Kurusu-**

'I think it's fitting as it's the last key and we will save him after we escape', she smiled.

"Oh, so you picked the clue huh?"

'She chose his name… Why did she choose his name?'

… And why he felt that strange feeling again? Like something sinking inside him?

"Ok, because I asked a personal question to her I think it would be in our right to receive the same treatment right?", his face was serious, "Now… Kurusu Kaoru, You must write the worst feeling that you have now"

What?

He widened his eyes, in panic.

'A question from the heart is harder to solve than a simply question of logic right?', the words were repeated on his mind.

It was right, he didn't know why he felt so bad.

'I must think on it even thought my whole being doesn't want to', he closed his eyes; trying to focus on all of the moments that he felt that strange ache.

The source: Haruka.

The pang on his chest returned when he remembered how fondly she called his deceased brother's name in her sleep, or how deception flashed her eyes when she noticed that he wasn't real at all… Or like now, when she chose "him" as the person she liked.

… And then there's his memory of what happened on the Red Key's room, when he saw his brother's double pinning her, he murdered him without thinking twice.

'I'm jealous… Jealous of my own brother', realization hit him like a truck, his eyes widening in sheer horror.

"Kaoru… Kaoru!", someone called him, which snapped the blond of his thoughts.

"Y-Yes?", he stuttered, visibly shaken up.

"T-The time!"

He looked at the floating clock which had only 5 minutes left.

… Was he in so deep thought that he forgot about the time?

"Haruka…"

"Yes?"

"Please, don't look at the answer that I will write", he pleaded, pain visible on his eyes.

"But…"

"Please"

"…Ok"

"So… What's the worst feeling?"

"… Jealousy", he whispered, shaking a bit while writing the cursed word.

The dark clothed figure stared at the word with a serious face, sighing a bit before looking kind of sympathetically at him.

"Sorry, but the answer is… Wrong"

"What?", he blinked in surprise.

"I said that the question of the heart is difficult right?", the being replied tracing something on the air, "… You're jealous, there's nothing to deny it, but it isn't the strongest negative feeling right now"

"Then… What could it be?"

"Shame", he said putting his hand on the paper and erasing the answer there, "After all, you adore your older brother and that's why you're here right? To feel any kind of negative feeling towards him, especially because he's dead must make you feel like the worst right?"

"I…"

"I'm surprised that your last thought didn't make you realize that"

"…"

"Well… It seems as you failed, but it's obligatory to participate on the last event", he snapped his fingers, "Do you want me to call your dear to tell the news or you will tell her?"

"…"

"Oh well, it seems that I will need to talk", he sighed, "Hey Nanami"

"Y-Yes?", she ran to the table, eyes widening when she saw the state of her friend, "Kaoru? What's wrong?"

"He got it wrong", he announced, "But you're forced to participate on the last question, so… Do you want to start now?"

"Wrong…?", she blinked.

But… How's that possible? If the memory she had of Syo was one of the future then it must mean that they would get out of that place right?

"I'm waiting for your answer"

"What's the point in trying?" said Kaoru looking to the side, shame and guilty flashing on his eyes, "We needed to get all of the questions right and… I messed up"

"Kaoru… It isn't your fault", she shook her head, but it seemed as the boy couldn't hear a word that she said, "I'm sure that we will get out of here, believe me!"

"There's no other way! Without the black key and a clue to get out of this fucking place… There's no way!"

There must be a way… She knew that.

'Or do you want to believe that there's a way just because the fake thing in that room told you so?', a small voice said on her head.

No, she wouldn't let doubt cloud her heart, as she believed on it and what she saw.

"I…", Haruka gulped, "I want to use an advantage"

"… And what would it be?"

"If we win then you will give us the key", she said with determination, "I will pay any price for that!"

"Wait, Haruka, it's dangerous!", said Kaoru worried.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright!", she tried to look more confident than she was feeling.

The dark being just closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them and staring her with fierce and irritated eyes.

"You say that just because of the 'memory from the future' right?", he said with a dangerous voice, "Just because you think that's set on stone you think that you can be reckless!"

"Haruka, what's he talking about?", asked Kaoru.

"T-That's…"

"So let me tell you a secret: Fate and Destiny doesn't exist", he continued, "The only reason for these memories from the future being there is because until now you didn't do anything to contradict it, but if you die, then that future will be lost"

"…"

"Well… Do you want to know the price to grant this 'Advantage?'", he asked breathing deeply, "… If you lose your soul will be forever bound to this place, you wouldn't be able to go to the other side or see your loved ones again!"

Her entire body shook when she heard that, falling on the floor, horrified with the thought.

"… Do you still want this advantage?"

"I…"

"Haruka, don't", Kaoru said, placing his hands on hers, "I would rather die than let you be stuck on this hellish place forever!"

"Well, at least one of you has a good sense"

She felt like crying.

So it was the only options that were left to them? To die here without accomplish anything? After surviving so many dangers it will be the result of their efforts?

…

No.

"Haru…ka?", blinked Kaoru when the girl stood up.

"I… Will accept your offer", she stuttered, looking up, and meeting the dark eyes.

She was still scared, and the risk was great, but she couldn't forgive herself if she didn't give her best!

"What?", the black haired man blinked, clearly surprised, "I wasn't lying about what I said earlier you know?"

"I know", she said breathing deeply, "But If I chose to give up, then I would definitely loose the chance to make that future real so… I will take the risk"

"Hum… You humans sure are full of surprises…", he sighed, giving up, "… You will regret this"

"I won't"

"Ok, then", he said placing the feather inside the small pot of ink, "… I won't give a clue this round, feel free to search for it"

"What? It's totally unfair!"

"You already said that and I said that I'm a fair cheater"

"…This means that there's a clue after all"

"Heh… Maybe", he chuckled, "Oh, by the way, your time will be reduced to 15 minutes"

"Wait, what? That's…!"

"I try to be as fair as I can while I'm being unfair"

"… It means that we shouldn't lose time, right?"

"Huhu…"

"Kaoru?"

"Huh?"

"The last time we are searching for clues… You didn't find anything that could be used as one for this?"

"…No"

"Then it must mean that we shouldn't waste our time searching that part… Hum… But still, there must be something right?"

"Well, the only thing that I can think of is the sign closer to the door"

The Sign!

"Let's check it!"

**-There'S a waY wHEn no clue is given.**

**the first and the last are the same, second is 5, the third is the first clue, Age is fourth and the final clue is gold for the ones without hope.-**

"…It's only me or there's some bad placed capital letters?"

"Maybe it's on purpouse?"

"Ok, so… There's 'S', 'Y', 'H' and 'E'… 4 letters!"

"Huh… What about 'T'? I mean, it's in capital too"

"…Eh, but it's the beginning of the phrase, so I doubt so", he blinked but decided to look anyway, before his eyes widened, "No… I think you're right, the other paragraph doesn't have any capital word, even in the beginning"

"Ok, 5 letters!"

"Uhum, let's check the other clues… First and second are the same… Ok, so we need to repeat one of these letters", he took his pen and started to write, "the second letter has something to do with number 5… And the third clue is the first…. Argh, other one?! I can't stand another problem with organization!"

"Hum… At least we got pretty good with this right?", Haruka chuckled, "Hum…. The first clue? I think it's the order of the letters that can be found"

"Yeah… Makes sense, so… It must be 'T'"

"Hum… Do you think that the same could be applied to the second letter?"

"No, we can only find 4 letters, unless… A, B, C, D, E…", he counted, "Oh there's one E on the option, it's the fifth letter of the alphabet!"

"Ok, 2 letters found!"

"10 minutes"

"Oh crap, we need to go faster!", Kaoru nibbled his lips while staring at the 3 letters, "Ok, we still have, S, H and Y"

"Hum? H?"

"Yes, why?"

"There isn't one part that asked about that?"

"Oh yes, 'age is the fourth'… Huh, fairly simply"

"Hum… So we need to find what the first is and last… Besides the other letter"

"I think the gold is the fifth letter… But we don't have 'G'"

"Maybe it's something that related to it?"

"OK, in this case we need to associate the last letters with it…Er… A word with S… Maybe sun?"

"Or Yellow?"

"…"

"…"

"Ugh,that will be difficult… Let's test to see the two variations:"

Sethys

Yethsy

"… Both doesn't make sense"

"I don't think it's a word"

"? What do you mean?"

"5 minutes"

"A-AH, We need to decide which one is the right answer!"

"Maybe Yethsy? A sun would be welcomed in a gloomy place like this"

"Hum… It does make sense, but… Sethys doesn't look off either"

"There's any special meaning behind these words?"

"I'm not sure", she hesitated, "… I think it's the Graceful Blue's name"

"It's name?"

"2 minutes"

"Let's go back and decide there!"

"Ok!"

"Did you find the answer?"

"Still deciding!"

"Ugh… Do you think that it gave a clue to which one is the correct one?"

"…I don't think so"

"Ok, let's check their parts again: The final clue is gold for the ones without hope… And the first and the last are the same…"

Same.

"1 minute"

"We need to write both!"

Sethys Yetshy.

"Heh, you did it", the man smiled, snapping his fingers and making a black key appear, "I hope you are as lucky in the next world Nanami"

Next world?

"What you mean…"

"You better look outside, Sethys' door is available now", he winked before disappearing.

"Haruka! Let's go!"

"R-Right!"

**-00-**

Both stared in awe when blue lights started to appear on the wall next to the room where they were, taking form of a big, blue gate, which had something draw on it.

"It must be…"

"The last door!"

"Yes… Huh?", blinked Haruka when she saw something glowing on Kaoru's bag, "The keys…"

"It seems as we need to use them on the door", he said looking to a blue key already incrusted there, "Oh look, there's the final key"

"It seems so", she chuckled, stopping when Kaoru looked down, "Kaoru? What's wrong?"

"I feel sort of ashamed, like I don't deserve it"

"What are you talking about?"

"I feel happy that my brother will be alive but…"

"… It has something to do with what happened back then?", asked Haruka, "When you told me that you didn't want to show me?"

"Yes…", he said, feeling ashamed.

"… Please, tell me, I can't stand seeing you suffering in silence"

"… You will feel disgusted"

"No, I won't"

"…How can you be sure?"

"Because even if it's for a short time… I spent a lot of time with you", she said with a gently voice, "You're a good person, I can tell that"

"…I was feeling jealous"

"Hum?"

"Whenever you called my brother's name… And you choose to write his name… I felt jealous", he said, looking to the side, "Some horrible thoughts passed on my mind like: Couldn't she tell that I'm the one at her side in this moment?"

"Kaoru…"

"Sorry… I'm the worst"

"No… I should be the one apologizing", she shook her head, "I didn't mean to treat you like that, it's just that that with these mix of memories… Besides, according to the Syo from the Dark Blue Key, the memories that I have of him are future memories"

"I see…"

"B-Beside, I didn't choose your name because I felt it would be awkward and you would get the wrong impression", she clarified feeling embarrassed, "His question was just to write the name of someone that I liked, so it could be anyone"

"…Is that so?"

"Yes"

"… I think I feel like a whiny idiot right now"

"Don't feel like that", she smiled gently, "Say… Back to the Red room, when you saved me, the first thing that came to your mind was jealousy?"

"I…"

"I don't believe that, you're better than what you think you are."

He gave an unsure look but decided to close his eyes, trying to remember.

When he first saw the trail of blood he got really scared, the only thing that was on his mind was her safety, and when he saw he fake Syo pinning her and saw the blood staining her clothes… His mind was totally blank; the only thing he remembered was seeing the knife, his own heartbeat beating loudly on his ears, while he stabbed the double.

"I… There was nothing on my mind, it was just too fast, even for me", he said, "I just saw you and… I don't know, my heart was beating loudly in my ears and the only thing I know is that while we were separated I was praying for your safety"

"Is that so?", she said with kindly, "…I'm thankful that my safety was your first priority, and I think that your prayers helped me a lot."

"Haruka…", he whispered, "Thanks, you're truly an amazing and kind person, If there's one thing that I could thanks this place for was to meet you"

"Thanks, I'm also glad to meet you", she smiled, "… Let's go?"

"Right!", he nodded, looking at the door, "Hum… Don't you think it's strange that's there's a path draw there?"

"Yes… It's better if we copy it!"

"Knowing this place one can not be sure enough", he snorted, copying it, "Let's turn the key"

"Ok", she said, opening the door.

"**AFTER THIS POINT THERE'S NO TURNING BACK!"**

"Huh? What?"

As soon as they stepped inside of it they looked back and saw that the walls and everything behind them started to crumble, vanishing in thin air.

"…"

"…"

"RUN!"

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, through the narrow corridor which had another big door.

"Ack! What key should I use?"

"The riddle! We need to use the Black one!"

"Y-Yeah", he stuttered, taking the black key and shoving it on the door, opening it in frenzy.

"Ah GOD! It's reaching us!"

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"Ah! The next door, what color?"

"Red!"

"O-Ok, next! Sweet merciful Lord!"

"Dark Blue!"

"Ah! There's only Purple and White left!"

"Only white!", Haruka said shoving the purple key on the door, and opening it, "A-Ah… I think I'm out of breath"

"We're very close!", Kaoru said turning and taking her hand, while running like a lightning, half dragging her.

"**OK! LAST DOOR**!", He took the key and opened it, closing the door behind him.

"… It seems as if the destruction stopped", said Haruka looking behind her.

"Good grief…", he breathed in relief, falling on the floor, "… Where are we?"

It was a big room, with a lot of pictures on the wall and a statue of a woman that had blue hair.

"Congratulations for coming so far", said the statue, startling both of them, "…But it isn't the end, to escape this place you must find the picture were you complete the truth and go through it"

"Truth…?"

"Exactly", the woman-statue said, "…Please hurry or the portals will close!"

… And as soon as she said that the pictures started to shrink a bit.

"…"

"…"

"There's no time to rest! Let's find it!"

It was a race against time and both knew it, running as fast as they could, they looked everywhere, the pictures, starting to blurry in their vision.

"It's… A landscape and… Haruka is here?"

"A landscape like the one on my dream! Oh, and it's Syo there!"

"Better If I warn her"

"Better if I talk to him"

They both ran back to the middle of the room, at the same time.

"Haruka!"

"Kaoru!"

"I found a picture with a landscape and…", they both said,"Wait, you too?"

"You… Was there", he scratched his head.

"…Syo was there"

"Uh, so I guess that means that mine must be the true one right?", he laughed, but Haruka stayed serious and even… Sorrowful?, "Haruka?"

"…No, both are correct", she shook her head, "To make them true it needs something to fix it… Remember when I told you about my dream on the landscape?"

"So… It means that's… A Goodbye?"

"I… Yes"

They both felt sad, neither wanted to part from each other as they went through a lot of things together, the concept of not being in each other's presence almost felt foreigner.

"**HURRY, IT'S ALMOST CLOSING!", **the statue alerted them.

"I-It's better if we hurry", Haruka said, trying to force a smile, when she felt arms wrapping around her in a hug, "K-Kaoru?"

"Here, take my bag", he said, "I… Don't know where you will go but it may be helpful to you"

"Thanks…", she said putting it on her back, "I…"

He gently kissed her, a faint touch on her lips.

"… I wish I could say more but… We don't have time", he smiled, "Thanks"

Haruka was speechless.

"**RUN NOW OR YOU WILL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!"**

"Let's go Haruka!"

"Right!"

They ran in opposite directions, their heart thumping loudly on their chests as they felt as if they didn't had enough time to say goodbye.

But as they looked behind their backs and their stares meet each other they felt that their smiles and looks would be enough to give the needed message.

"Until we meet again"

"I will meet you"

"Please, be safe"

"I hope your wish will be granted"

"Thank You"

"Thanks"

The picture was really small and started to shrink more, picking speedy, Haruka ran as fast as she could and threw herself inside the picture, falling thought a strange tunnel.

"Congratulations, you escaped!", said a familiar voice.

"You… Black?"

"Huh, I like the nickname", the being chuckled, "Now, remember the wish you made?"

"I want to undo your curse"

"Right!", he clapped, "Because you survived I can remove one curse, do you want to undo yours or…?"

"No, I want to undo Kaoru's"

"…Hehe, I thought that you would say that", he smiled snapping his fingers, "Well, it sure was exhaustive right? So… It's better if you sleep until you arrive on the next world!"

After he said that she felt her eyelids dropping, but she didn't fight the feeling as the gentle light engulfed her.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000- **

**35 Pages… And I'm tired =_=, HAHAHAHA GOSH, NOW WE PUT INTERNET ON MY GRANDPA HOUSE AND I CAN UPDATE YES!**

…

**Ok, review time! Because you guys are awesome!**

**Sacchiance**- Well, the first chapter I wrote when I was sleep deprived(which is the closest to drunk that I will get), so it's not a surprise that nothing made sense hehehe, to be truly honest the next day I was going to delete it but when I saw that someone favorite it I was like "Eh, might as well update XD"

HAHAAH, to be truly honest I'm horrible with riddles, the only reason that they connect is because I thought of them, because if someone else made the same I wouldn't be able to figure it out XD

Well, about ideas… I read a lot of Emily Rodda books that love these kind of riddles and twits and see a lot of horror games that have puzzles, so I guess I was kind of influenced ehehe.

AW~ Thanks a lot for the nice words! I feel really happy! :3

**GlamGurl17**- Thank you~ I hope to maintain the quality of this work O3O

**Brandnewmelody**- Still laughing at your reaction and your drawing is really cute~ Hhaha, I love when in the romance stories the dude says something like "I can't live without you", it's so… Romantic /

**Panda Mistress**- Heheh, no problem~ Sometimes I don't review the day the fanfic update heheh~ Yeah, I was snorting the whole time as I thought about fooling people, and I think that when I end this fic people will be so confused that I will need to explain XD

Hhuhuh~ Who knows~? I'm still deciding who I will write next! ^^

**Madmads360**- Yeah, for a fic that started in a sleep deprived haze this one became my favorite to write! I have a lot of fun writing dangerous situations kufufufu~ I hope I can make you like the others Utapri guys "routes" as much as you liked Syo/Kaoru's ^w^


	8. Chapter 8

"What's the meaning of this?! You said that I would only get this curse!"

"Change of plans, I didn't expect her to recognize you", said the black haired entity, "That's why I will change your curse so it will fit the criteria"

"It's hardly fair"

"I'm not a fair entity", it replied.

"… And about her wish? Why are you sending her to another world? One should be fair enough"

"… Because of her wish", he said, "I asked her if she wished for a power to undo the curse of someone that she cared for"

"And what it has to do with that?"

"Everything", he looked at the cloaked person, "You can see how she is thanks to me, and you saw how she befriended someone there… She undid his curse with her wish and she probably will do the same with others until she arrive in this world to try and undo your curse"

"…"

"She did fairly well and has a great heart", the entity smiled, "No wonder you took a liking to her, let's pray for her, as she will need her heart to pass the next trial"

-00-

It was raining is the grey city, the streets were silent and no one was outside.

…But that wasn't because of the rain.

She gasped while she tried to run, even with the cold rain hitting her body that felt heavy she didn't dare to stop as she was aware that she was being followed.

"I can't let him catch me…", she whispered.

She stopped a bit to catch her breath, noticing that she was in the middle of a bridge; the water running rather loudly.

"What time is it…", she mumbled, shivering because of how cold she felt, "I hope there's enough time until I find a safe place…"

"There's no safe place in this world… At least, not for you!"

She gasped when a tall figure appeared in the middle of the storm, his green and fiery eyes being a huge contrast to the grey scenario, like his blond hair.

"Y-Y…"

"I won't let you live, you're not going to hurt him… I won't let you", the man whispered, taking slow steps while she stumbled back, fear stamped on her face.

"I-I don't meant to! I don't want to hurt anyone!", she screamed.

"Liar", the man spat, holding her by her neck while pressing her body on the edge of the bridge, "I can see how you tremble in my presence… I can see how you plan to escape from this place… You will abandon him and me… You filthy liar!"

"N-No I…"

"Die… ", the blond man said pushing her, "Die like the others liars!"

Haruka gasped, waking up while a cold sweat ran from her face, her heart beating fast like a truck.

'It was… A fake memory?', she shuddered hugging herself.

Or it was a future memory?

"Onee-chan, are you alright?"

Haruka turned and almost fell from where she was.

Golden hair and green eyes.

"Miss, are you alright?", blinked the childlike voice.

'I-It isn't him… The one from my dreams didn't have glasses and looked older', she thought breathing deeply, 'The person in front of me look like a child'

"Y-yes, sorry", Haruka said trying to smile, "I had a nightmare and was startled"

"I see…", the boy blinked his eyes curiously.

"So… Er… Where am I?"

"Hum? Ah, you're in my home", smiled the child, "I found you passed out and brought you here"

"Oh, is that so?", she blinked, looking from head to toe and doubting that he had enough strength to carry her, "Thank you"

"Hehe, you're welcome Onee-chan", he smiled happily again, resting his face on the corner of the bed (that now she noticed that she was on a bed), "Say~ What's your name?"

"Nanami… Nanami Haruka"

"Haru-chan?", he blinked before nodding, "It's a cute name… I'm Shinomiya Natsuki"

"Natsuki?"

"Yep!"

"Nice to meet you Natsuki-kun"

"Hehe, nice to meet you too Haru-chan!", he smiled.

'Definitely there's no way that he's the same person that appeared on my dream', she smiled at the child before looking the room where she was, which was full of cute dolls and toys of many sizes, '… For a boy he sure has a lot of cute dolls'

"Say… One-chan", asked the boy looking at her with curiosity, "Where you was? Your dress is ripped and you have some cuts"

"A-Ah that's… I hurt myself", she laughed awkwardly, "You see, I'm quite clumsy"

"Is that so?", he blinked again before looking at one of his dolls with interest, "Hum… I don't have girl clothes but I think one of my dolls has the same size as you so… I can lend you her clothes!"

"Eh, you wouldn't mind?"

"Nope!" , he chuckled, humming happily, "Besides, I think they will look cuter on you!"

"…You sure like cute things right?", she smiled kindly.

"Yep! They give me warm fuzzies!", he chirped going to the doll and taking her clothes, "Here, you can wear that! Ah! And you feel like washing the dirty from you face I have a bathroom here!"

"Ok, then, thanks again Natsuki-kun"

"You're welcome!"

Haruka bowed and took the dolls clothes, opening the door were the blond child pointed and stripping her old clothes, taking Kaoru's bag and putting it slowly on a hook that was there.

"It feels nice…", she sighed happily when she felt the warm water, flinching sometimes when the hot water ran through her wounds, "My… I think I need to put new plasters"

After she dried her body she put the frilly dress that looked like a Lolita kind, which thankfully, despite the decorations, wasn't that heavy on hard to move.

"Well, at least it's comfortable enough if I need to run", she mumbled, choosing to wear her older shoes instead of the lacy ones, taking the small bag and putting on her back.

"Wow! Haru-chan you really look cute with this dress!", clapped Natsuki when she got out of the bathroom.

"Hehe, thanks", she nodded, before a thought came to her mind, "Say… Natsuki, where are your parents?"

"…I don't have parents, I live alone"

"Alone?", she blinked, "But… Aren't you too young for that?"

"I can take care of myself", he smiled, looking at the floor with interest, "More than a year"

"Is that so?" Haruka whispered, feeling sympathy wash over her.

Growl~

"Huh, what's that sound?"

"I-I think it's my stomach", she blushed feeling embarrassed before an idea came to her mind, "Say, where's the kitchen? I could make a meal for us!"

"Really?", his eyes shined.

"Yes", she chuckled, thinking of how cute he was.

'This place so peaceful… I hope it isn't a dream'

-00-

"Wow! It was delicious!"

"Haha, thanks", Haruka smiled washing the plates.

"Huh…", the boy started to look again with interest at the floor.

"Do you want to ask something?", she said kindly, crouching to the level of the boy.

"I was wondering if you could play with me", he asked, his cheeks with a tint of red.

"Yes, of course"

"Really?", he perked up, "Ah! We could play hide and seek! It's my favorite game!"

"Hum… Isn't this house a bit small to play hide and seek?"

"Oh, but we don't need to play here, we're going to use the entire city!", he grinned.

Entire city?

"What?"

"We can use the library, the apartments, the museum and…"

"W-Wait a second Natsuki-kun", Haruka said trying to process what he just said, "You said the whole city?"

"Yes", he blinked before realization hit him, "Oh… I see… You're new here! Well, I can show you around and then we can play hide and seek tomorrow!"

The cheerful kind took her hand and dragged her outside, holding her bag like a safety blanket she gulped trying to think about what dangers this world had to offer.

…And found nothing.

The streets were empty, the wind being the only sound that broke the unsettling silence that the air held, as the buildings were all dark, like no one lived there.

She found the lack of living beings, besides her and the boy scarier than the monsters of the other world.

"Where… Where's everyone?"

"No one lives here", Natsuki said now walking, "I'm the only one that live in this city"

"But… You don't know where's the others?"

"… When I arrived this place was already empty", he answered, "Some people appear sometimes, but they leave"

"And you?", she asked, "Don't you want to leave too?"

"No", he shook his head, "I like this place"

"…Don't you feel alone?"

"I have Satsuki, he never leaves me alone"

'Who's Satsuki? His brother? His family?'

"Who's Satsuki? Is her your brother?"

"No", he shook his head, "Satsuki is a friend, and he's my best friend and is always with me when I need him"

"Hum… Ok", she nodded not understanding what he was saying.

"Oh! We arrived at the museum!", he grinned, letting go of her hand and spinning around the exhibitions.

Haruka stepped inside the building with caution, not sure of what she should expect in a place full of skeletons, but got surprised to see that the place was rather… Normal?

"The dinosaurs looks cool right?", asked Natsuki, "My favorite is the T-Rex, I call him Taro!"

"Hum… Nice"

"I wish I could show you more but if we don't hurry then I won't have enough time to show you the rest of the unlocked places on the zone north"

"Unlocked places?"

"Yes, strangely enough mostly of the buildings are locked", he blinked taking her hand again and leading her outside, "Let's go!"

They walked a bit more, with Natsuki showing her the toy's, candies and sculpture shops, always running, and looking outside the shop, as if he wanted to make sure of something.

"Hum... Natsuki?", asked Haruka feeling uncomfortable in the middle of so many statues, while the boy looked curiosly at a fountain, "Why do you always look outside? Like you want to make sure of something?"

"Oh, that's… Ah! It's almost twilight!", he gasped, his eyes widening, "Hey, if we're fast enough we can arrive at the library! The place is huge!"

"Nats…"

"Let's go!", he said taking her hand and looking a bit worried, "It's fine if we stay here, but it can be kind of scary when nights arrive"

"What do you mean by that?", she blinked, a bad feeling making her shudder.

"Let's go!", he repeated, starting to drag her as they ran, "We need to arrive at the library!"

She felt as if they are running faster and faster. She didn't know what it was with the night, but by the urgent expression on his face she knew that good thing it wasn't so she kept running, even if her entire body hurt and breathing became hard.

"We arrived", he said looking behind him and noticing that the rays of light were vanishing, "Quickly, inside!"

She didn't object, she entered the big place while the boy closed the bid door carefully, before taking her hand ant taking her to the second floor, guiding her to one of the closed and cleanest windows.

"Phew, we did on time", he dropped on the floor, close to the big window, "I never dared to walk on the street until almost night hehehe"

He looked a bit nervous.

"What happens at night?", she asked puzzled.

"Well…", he trailed off looking as the sun totally disappeared, "There, look at the street"

Haruka got closer to the window and saw a shadow with a gray face in front of the building, I had a big grin and two incandescent red eyes, that emitted a bright and scary light, walking silently on the street.

"…What's that?"

"I don't know", Natsuki whispered, "He appears as soon as night sets and when he people are nearby"

"Are we safe here?", she shuddered when the thing slowly walked away.

"Yes", he nodded, "He doesn't enter buildings, even when it's open…"

"But… Why you said that it would be better if we came here than staying in that shop?", asked Haruka, "After all you said that we took a great risk coming here"

"I prefer to stay in buildings with two or more floors", he replied, "I stayed once in a store and… It was pretty scary, the thing was in front of the showcase and it's red eyes were glued on me… He stayed like that the entire night!"

"I-I see…"

"…"

'So this world has it dangers too', thought Haruka worried, when she felt the boy's hand holding the sleeve of her dress.

"We will be alright… Don't worry, I feel safe", he mumbled.

'What a strange child', she thought, 'Even if it's clear that he fear whatever appears at night he says that he doesn't want to escape… I wonder why?'

"Haru-chan"

"Hum?"

"We're going to stay here right?", he asked tugging at her sleeve, "Could you read a book for me?"

"Sure, I would love to", she smiled.

'It's better if I don't think of it for now', she smiled while the boy opened a smile and guided her to a room with a blanket and pillows (probably he brought it before), 'He looks alone, I should make sure that he feels safe'

"Ah! Here, my favorite book!", he said, giving her a small book that looked like a pocket book with purple cover.

"That is…", her eyes widened.

-The Tale of Purple-

-The Sensitive Purple was shy, and didn't stand much; she liked White the most, because White' powers went well with hers, the soul and the heart-

-She liked Red, so fiery and bright, she didn't like the morning sky or the deep ocean as the colors were silent to her-

-Black was always around her and White, and she liked him, even with him being an entity of sadness, and in the end, only Black and White were there for her, as she couldn't make a choice-

-Purple's still alive-

"…Why did you want me to tell you this weird story?"

"Well… You see, I always felt bad for Purple", said Natsuki, "She's just shy, but was hated just because she couldn't make a choice… Even Red, which she liked, abandoned her"

"…"

"She seems like a nice person", he trailed of looking sadly at the book, mumbling to himself, "What she did to deserve that?"

"The Graceful Blue disliked Purple and White because of pride…", mumbled Haruka remembering the words of the blue book.

Now she wondered why she found the blue book or why she thought about their dynamics so deeply.

…And why she called the strange entity of curses by "Black"?

"… You know what I find strange?", he mumbles looking at her eyes, "That she liked Black even if he was a being of sadness… Why she liked such a dark color? Was that because in the end, Black was a nice person?"

Nice?

"Hum… I don't think it's the case…", she trailed off thinking back to the dark haired man and all of the suffering that he made her and many people suffer.

…But then again, he looked pained.

'Why I can't stop thinking about him?', she shook her head.

"Onee-chan, are you ok?"

"Y-Yes, I'm fine", she smiled, "Do you want me to tell you another story?"

"Hum… Yeah, I like the illustrated book with Piyo-chan, it has cute drawings!", he said patting a big book next to him.

"Haha, I see, I will read it for you", she said picking the book and placing it on the big and fluffy rug, "But first I will switch the light of the others rooms off… Er… Unless you prefer to let it on?"

"No, I'm fine", he shook his head, "But why are you switching them off?"

"Well, because if we feel sleepy we can sleep here", she smiled, "Wait a second, I will be back!"

"Ok…"

First she pressed the switch of the first floor off, and when she did that she saw two red lights.

It was the creature, which was staring her through the window.

She shuddered when she stepped to the side and the creature's gaze accompanied her movement, feeling her heart beating fast she ran through the stairs and decided that she would feel safer if she let the lights on.

"Eh? Haru-chan?", blinked Natsuki surprised to see her, "Didn't you say that it would be better to switch the light off?"

"C-Changed my mind", she stuttered, "You're right, that thing is creepy"

"Oh, you caught it staring you?"

"Yes…", she shivered, closing the door behind them.

Natsuki looked slight indecisive before shyly taking her hand and offering a small and unsure smile.

"Thanks", Haruka breathed, noticing that the small boy was trying to cheer her.

"It feels weird to comfort an adult", he chuckled slight.

"Ah! Sorry, I don't look reliable right?", her gaze dropped down.

"No, I feel safe around you", he smiled before a red tint colored his cheeks, "It's just… That's the first time I felt like 'protecting' someone… I think I like this feeling, it's nice"

"Is that so?", she giggled feeling more at ease, "You're a cute boy Natsuki… Oh, sorry, boys usually don't like being cute right?"

"No, I like it"

"Is that so?", she let a chuckle, while taking the big book, "You sure are special"

Haruka patted lied on the floor and patted the spot right next to her, so Natsuki lied there with a puzzled expression until Haruka took the blanket and covered them, putting an arm around him which made him look surprised.

"It feels more warm this way right?", she smiled opening the book in front of them, using the other arm around him to flip the pages, which made their bodies closer.

She started to read the childish book but Natsuki wasn't paying attention, he was looking at her, his cheeks feeling warm like his heart.

'Don't trust her, she will disappear and abandon you'

'I know but… It feels too nice'

'She will hurt you, it's better if you leave her before she leaves you and make you suffer'

'… I can't help it, I like this warm'

'…'

'Sorry, I know you're worried'

'Fine, but if she does anything wrong I will punish her'

"… Natsuki-kun?"

"Hum?", he blinked, "Sorry, I think I dazed off"

"You must be sleepy right", she closed he book and stretched her arm to take two pillows, "Here"

"Thanks"

"Do you want me to take your glasses off?"

"…No", he shook his head, "I will be looking a bit of the figures, but you can sleep"

"Hum… Ok, then", she blinked, feeling sleepy and closing her eyes, resting her head on the fluffy pillow.

Natsuki stared at her peaceful face a bit more, before deciding that he wanted to sleep, so he took his glasses off.

In the light of the room his body grew to the size of a young man.

"…Huh, it seems as she's already asleep", he said with a deeper voice.

He narrowed his eyes while he took a strand of Haruka's hair, approaching her ear.

"If you hurt him I will kill you", he whispered while a sadistic smile before he reverted back to the small boy, which was lying unconsciously on the pillow.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**Hello~ People! Surprised that Natsuki's the next? Hehehe**

**I was thinking about the other guys but Natsuki was the first that came to my mind, so I decided to go with him next kufufufufu**

**Poor Haruka, not only she needs to worry about the dangers of the world now she needs to worry to not be killed by her new partner! What new dangers wait for her?**

**And people, don't worry, besides Natsuki's there's still more Four Paths to go, so we have plenty of chapters ahead! Huhuhuh, now about her official couple~ **

**Dudududu mystery!**

…

**REVIEW TIME!**

**Brandnewmelody- I'm bad at those too, and it only make senses because I was the one who thought about them XD, don't worry, this isn't the last as we now started with Natsuki's!**


	9. Chapter 9

"P-please, I don't...!"

"Die... DIE!"

She woke up panting, as her chest felt heavy.

„The same dream...", Haruka mumbled while her entire body shook.

She looked at her side, where the blond boy snuzzled close to her, still sleeping.

„...There's no way that's him", she breathed slowly , trying to calm herself, „And it can't be a future memory... The place where I was... Empty streets... A bridge... I'm sure that's the same place as here, but the person that I saw on the dream doesn't match."

But how could she tell? This place was weird and that's a possibility.

‚... In this case I should avoid walking close to any bridge', she thought.

She closed her eyes for a moment trying to organize her thoughts and think about what she understood until now.

Never wanders at night as there's a monster lurking at these time.

There's no living thing in this place besides her and Natsuki.

She found the book about the tale of Purple, probably it will be important fro later, so she better hold it.

Avoid bridge.

She needed to find clues to escape from this place, but she knew that she didn't know what buildings were unlocked and safe, so for now, she should stick with the mysterious boy, Natsuki, until he showed ehr around.

„Speaking of him...", she mumbled looking at boy sleeping close to her.

Should she go search around or should she wait until he wake up?

„I could economize time and search for it until he wakes up, but...", she mumbled, patting the boy's head.

But then again, how he would feel if he woke up and didn't find anyone there?

‚No...', she shook her head, ‚It's better if I wait until he wakes up'

-00-

‚Why she isn't moving?', thought Natsuki staying still while looked at the short haired girl with half lidded eyes,' She's up for a while now'

He could be a heavy sleeper but easy to wake up, but he waited with half-lidded eyes observing the girl.

He got surprised when he felt her patting his head.

She smiled kindly at him for a couple of moments but then her eyes started to scrutinize the room where they were.

But she didn't leave his side.

…Nor her hand from his head.

There was some kind of warm on his chest and cheeks, and for unknown reason her felt like crying.

He blinked the tears away and started to move, noticing the movement the girl looked at him while he stood up.

"Good morning", she said.

"Good Morming", he replied, "Hum…"

He started to fidget.

"What is?"

"Say, you look as if you are up for quite a while", he trailed off, "…Why did you stayed here?"

"Hum… Well", she chuckled, "I thought that you would find it weird if you woke up with no one at your side right?"

"Oh… I see…"

"Well, I guess it's better if we get up right? Staying here without doing anything wouldn't be fun right?", she stood up and offered her hand.

"R-Right", he replied still in a surprised daze, before he held the offered hand, opening a smile when he felt the warm, "… You're different from the others"

"Huh?"

"Nothing", he shook his head, "Shall we go?"

They went to the east zone this time, and could even enter some old building that were almost in ruins, with a few objects lying on the floor.

"There's an old bicycle here…", Haruka checked the object, that had faded paint but overall could be used.

'I think this could be useful if I need to explore this city later', she thought, taking a small notebook from the bag and writing the building's number and zone.

"What are you doing Haru-chan?"

"Huh? Oh, I took the habit of taking notes of anything that feels that could be useful for later"

"Ok then~", he nodded, "Well, if we walk further we will arrive at the gallery"

"Gallery?"

'Kaoru…'

She remembered fondly when they departed, promising that they would meet again.

… She kind of wondered how he was or if his wish was granted after all.

"Sis, you have spacing out"

"S-Sorry", she shook her head, "Could please lead me to the gallery?"

-00-

There were a lot of interesting pictures and sculptures in the gallery, big or small, short of thin… She could find even some frames without pictures!

"Huh… How strange…", she blinked, "Why there's frames on the wall without pictures?"

"There are some pictures without frames too", Natsuki informed, "Oh, but they aren't the strangest part about the gallery, you see, there's a room full of paintings and a beautiful statue in the middle, it almost looks alive!"

Natsuki held her hand while running to said room.

There was a statue in the middle, with a woman without eyeballs that was "staring" at something, her long and purple hair braided with a silver line.

"She indeed looks alive"

And sad.

Haruka stepped closer to the statue, curious, she stood next to her to see in which direction she was looking and blinked in surprise when she noticed an old picture on the wall that looked like group of badly draw squares with a pretty wind rose on the middle.

She went to the wall and picked the picture, taking the frame she turned the old paper and saw something written on it.

-There was once a woman that owned a chest full of marvelous gemstones, but she was unhappy as she couldn't see the beauty that they held, so she decided to make two of her precious gemstones as her eyes.-

-First, her eyes aren't purple-

-Second, all of them match her spirit-

-Third, It's a gem of the goat-

-Fourth, it's the complete opposite of her personality-

-Take the eyes and put in their place, after that, the woman as a reward, will show you the true nature of the map-

"Hum… What could it be…", she said looking at the other pictures on the room, noticing that they were gemstones, with a small description bellow, "Citrine, Garnet, Opal, Topaz…"

"Haru-chan, what are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just intrigued by this riddle", she said showing the boy the paper, "…Natsuki, do you know anything about gemstones?"

"No… Sorry"

"No problem, I will check it later", she shook her head, "…Hum… There's anything else that you want to show?"

"I think you saw everything in the gallery so…", he placed a finger on his cheek, "Well, there's a abandoned amusement park, but I think it's pretty far from here and it's dangerous as the monster can lurk inside that place…"

"Hum… But there isn't any safe place around there?"

"No, and it's pretty far from here, so it can be really dangerous"

"I see… Well, we could call it a day and return home right?", she smiled, "I bet you're hungry right?"

-00-

After they returned Haruka went straight to the kitchen to prepare something for them, while Natsuki went to his room, sitting on the lap of a big teddy bear, holding the plush's arm around him.

"It feels very different…", he mumbles, "Being hugged by something with warm…"

'She looked interested in the riddle… It's probably about how to escape from this place', a deep and protective voice talked to him, 'You shouldn't take a liking to her'

"… I think it's too late for that", he chuckled, a slight blush on his cheeks, "I like her… I love her warmth!"

'…It won't last long'

"It's ok", he chuckled again, but this time it was pained, "Everyone comes and leaves, I want to enjoy this opportunity as much as I can…"

'…'

"… But to be truly honest I hope this time the feeling last longer", he mumbled, burying himself in the pile of toys and pillows, "… It's been too long…"

"Natsuki", called Haruka, "Time to eat!"

"Ok!"

-00-

"Say… Haru-chan, do you have a special someone?", asked Natsuki bitting a piece of meat.

"Huh?", she blinked, "Well… I have some friends"

"Nun nun", he shook his head, "What I mean is that if you love someone"

"Well… I may have someone important but I'm not sure", she shook her head, "At least I don't have any memory of that"

"Memory?"

"Uhum", she nodded, "I have a curse… In which my real memories are blended with false ones… So I can't tell if it's true or not"

"Hum…"

"And you?"

"Eh?"

"If you are in this place then I can suppose that you made a contract with black and got a curse too?"

"Hum… Yes, kind of", he trailed off, not looking bothered, "But I don't feel as if my curse was really a curse"

"What you mean by that?", she blinked, looking puzzled.

"It's a secret!", he put his finger on his lips, "But and you? What wish you made?"

"It was… A wish to undo a curse of someone", she answered with a fondly voice, "… It's kind of strange… I don't remember who it was"

"Is that so? Then why are you so keen on saving him?"

"He got a bad curse to save me, even thought it wasn't necessary, that much I can tell", Haruka mumbled looking sad, "I can't stand seeing people sad because of me, so I choose to make a wish and fight any horrors necessary to repay his kindness"

"… But if something happened to you it wouldn't defeat the whole purpose of that someone's wish?"

"I know, it's kind of selfish and inconsiderate", she smiled awkwardly, "But I can't stand the thought of letting someone suffer… I would do anything in my power to see people smiling"

"Hum… But what lengths would you go?", he asked, sounding very serious, "If you had to choose between a friend and other what would you do?"

'It's only me or his voice and demeanor are different?', though Haruka when dark green eyes stared at her, waiting for an answer.

"I… Don't know, I don't think I would be able to choose"

"Uh… I see…", he smiled darkly before his expression returned to his usual cheerfulness, "That's nice! It means that you aren't willing to betray any of your friends right?"

"Y-Yes…"

'It must be my imagination', Haruka thought when the boy in front of her started chatting about toys, 'I am… Sugestioned, because of my recent nightmares…'

Yes, it must be it right?

…

But then, why she felt like something bad will happen?

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00-**

**Pretty short chapter considering that I usually write long ass ones in this fanfic.**

**Hehe, I bet you guys are wondering about how peaceful this route feels right?**

**WROOOOOONG.**

**We met the first puzzle, and you can bet that things will get very tense after Haruka solves that kufufufu**

**In the first path, thanks to Kaoru she solved mostly of the puzzles with his help, but now she will do it mostly alone~**

…

**REVIEW TIME!**

**Brandnewmelody**- I'm bad at solving, making is not as difficult as you know the answer XD

25 Chapters?Maybe, but I think it will be longer as Natsuki's path will be pretty long

**Panda Mistress** – For now it's calm, but Natsuki's path will be more focused on stealthy and Haruka will be on her own… Poor girl

**GlamGurl17**- Kufufufu, this arc will be the king of crepiness XD


	10. Chapter 10

"Hum... Let see...", mumbled Haruka while she writes some notes.

She used the last days to take notes of the safe places that Natsuki showed her, picking some things along the way.

**Zone North: Library, mannequin store.**

**Zone East: Some buildings that were open and the Amusement park on the corner of the city**

**Zone West: Cemetery**

**Zone South: Bridge**

She shuddered when she wrote the last two, as they are very far away and she was thankfully that she didn't need to visit it.

…At least for now.

"Haru-chan?", blinked a sleepy Natsuki.

"Hey Natsuki…", she greeted with a smile, patting his head, "Wait a second, I will prepare our breakfast"

"Ok", he smiled, hugging her before she let her stand up and go to the kitchen.

He took a liking to wake up with her arm enveloping him so he asked if he could sleep with her, which she agreed as he was only a child.

"It feels nice… ", he stretched before going to the bathroom to wash his face, taking his glasses for a second while staring his reflection, which looked a bit blurred as he had bad eyesight.

'Natsuki'

"Good morning Satsuki", he smiled, greeting his reflection.

'…'

"Wow, it must be the first time in a long time since I could take my glasses of and you not switching with me", he chuckled, "It must be the effect Haru-chan has on me… I don't feel scared at all in her presence"

Satsuki stayed silent while the cheerful boy cleaned his glasses but didn't put it back, choosing to hum a song while going to the living room, where a warm meal waited for him.

"It smells delicious~"

"Thanks", Haruka smiled before she noticed that he wasn't wearing his glasses, "Hum… Natsuki, you forgot your glasses"

"No I didn't", he shook his head, chewing a piece of egg, "I just felt like taking them off today"

"Ok?", she tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

"Haha, you're too cute nee-san"

Haruka nodded her head while she took a bit of her own breakfast, trying to think of a way to tell Natsuki that she would be off today and that she wasn't sure when she would return.

"I finished!", he said, taking his plate and putting it on the sink, "Let's play!"

"Hum… Natsuki"

"Yes?", he blinked.

"I need to be off today", she said looking at him, "…And I am not sure when I will return"

"Oh… I see…", his gaze dropped.

"But don't worry, I will try to be back as soon as possible"

"Hum… Can't you take me with you?"

"No", she shook her head, "It might be dangerous"

"Ok then", he started to fidget, "W-Well, then could you promise me that you will be back before night? I-I know that I showed you were the safe places are but… I will be worried if I don't see you"

"Don't worry", she chuckled hugging him, "I promise that I will be back before that"

"R-Right"

"I will make some lunch for you so you won't be hungry if I don't come earlier ok?", she said, taking her empty plate and washing it.

"I will wait until you return so we can eat together"

"Eh? But It could take a while"

"I don't mind", he shook his head, "I don't want to eat alone"

"… Ok then, I understand".

Then everything was silent, with Natsuki staring at the back of Haruka form.

"Say…", Haruka said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"After I make our meal we can play a bit", she smiled at him, which caught him off guard, "After all who knows how long I will be out right?"

"Oh… Right", he chuckled, before giving her a warm look, "Haru-chan?"

"Hum?"

"I like you"

"I like you too"

-00-

"… Well, I will be off", she said, putting the bag full of her notes.

Natsuki nodded slowly, feeling kind of sad even if he knew that she wouldn't be off for too long.

"Hey, don't make this face", she crouched to his level, "I will pass on the library so if you want any book you can ask me to bring it so we can read it together at night"

"…"

"Natsuki?"

Natsuki suddenly hugged her, which surprised Haruka, that noticed that he was trembling, so she hugged him back.

"What's wrong?"

"… Nothing", he sniffed letting go of her, when he suddenly felt warm lips on his forehead, "Huh?"

"Don't worry, I will be back"

"R-Right", he blushed a bit, touching the place where she kissed his forehead.

-00-

"Hum… How strange, I only found one book about gemstones", she blinked, "Well, I will check the clues again"

**-First, her eyes aren't purple-**

**-Second, all of them match her spirit-**

**-Third, It's a gem of the goat-**

**-Fourth, it's the complete opposite of her personality-**

**-Take the eyes and put in their place, after that, the woman as a reward, will show you the true nature of the map- **

"Ok, by goat it's obviously related to Capricorn", she blinked, flipping the pages, "Let's see… Gemstones of Capricorn…"

Garnet, Onyx, Ruby, Turquoise, Blue Topaz and Lapis Lazuli.

"Let's see…"

**Garnet**

Regarded as the stone of passionate devotion: to your family, your friends, yourself, and your own purpose in life**. Believed to stimulate the senses, and increase vitality and stamina. Garnet is thought to attract good luck in business ventures.**

**Onyx**

**Black onyx is said to repel negativity and deflect the negativity of others. It is a gem thought to enhance determination and perseverance.**

**Ruby**

**Famous as a protection from misfortune and bad health, ruby is also used to open the heart and promote love. **Given as a gift, ruby is a symbol of friendship and love. The ruby is also a symbol of vitality and royalty.

**Turquoise**

**Believed to attract money, success and love, **turquoise is a stone of friendship in many cultures. Native Americans associated the colors of the turquoise stone with the blue sky and the green earth. It is still seen by many today as being symbolic of mankind's source in nature.

**Blue Topaz**

**Associated with courage and overcoming fears and obstacles. **It is a traditional stone for writers, scholars, artists, and intellectuals; and used for aiding higher thinking.** It is said to ease mental anguish and promote fidelity, friendship, gentleness, and integrity.**

**Lapis Lazuli**

An ancient stone said to represent friendship and truth.** Lapis is said to help bring about harmony in relationships. **It is a stone of wisdom and awareness.

"Well, it's kind of unnecessary the first step as none of these gems have purple colors", she sweatdropped.

There was something really weird about the step two and four.

While the riddle didn't say anything she was sure that it was making a reference to the tale of Purple, so she kind of wondered how something could have the same characteristics of someone while being their total opposite.

"…It's better if I check the tale again"

**-The Sensitive Purple was shy, and didn't stand much; she liked White the most, because White' powers went well with hers, the soul and the heart-**

**-She liked Red, so fiery and bright, she didn't like the morning sky or the deep ocean as the colors were silent to her-**

**-Black was always around her and White, and she liked him, even with him being an entity of sadness, and in the end, only Black and White were there for her, as she couldn't make a choice-**

**-Purple's still alive-**

"So, she was shy, and White powers went well with her… I guess that her power can be of the soul or the heart", she started to write, "She didn't like the color blue as silence bothered her…"

Ok, the first part was simply, by matching "her spirit" she could guess that it meant his powers as Soul and Heart were both associated with "spirit", so she checked again the list.

"…"

Almost everything on the list could be vaguely associated with a kind of energy, excluding, maybe, Lapis Lazuli.

"Well, I guess that's one down at least", she shrugged her shoulder, "Hum… And something that contradicts? Onyx doesn't mention anything, I can exclude that, and… While I can see that Purple friend's didn't accept her anymore she seems as she still loves the dearly, so I can exclude Garnet too"

She started to risk the names, which only left three gemstones.

…Ruby, Turquoise and Blue Topaz.

"Hum… I guess both turquoise and Blue Topaz are blue and she didn't like these colors… So maybe Ruby is the answer?"

But she tapped her chin in a thought as she felt that there was something off with that.

"But if it was like that… Then why the gems' powers are emphasized?"

She decided to take a better look.

**Ruby: Famous as a protection from misfortune and bad health, ruby is also used to open the heart and promote love, as a gift, ruby is a symbol of friendship**

**Turquoise: Believed to attract money, success and love.** **Turquoise is a stone of friendship in many cultures.**

**Blue Topaz**

**Associated with courage and overcoming fears and obstacles. It is said to ease mental anguish and promote fidelity, friendship, gentleness, and integrity.**

"… I think I understand now", she blinked, "These three gems have one thing in common: Friendship, but the only one that is described as the one to attract friendship is Blue Topaz… So it must be the answer."

It was like the first place were she was, when she found that they were once close, so Purple must have liked both blues before she considered then too silent.

And if she remembers correctly the story mentioned that she couldn't make a choice that made the others mad at her, so she must be looking for a way to return of being friends again.

… No, it wasn't that simply, the other gems mentioned friendship too, but what made Blue Topaz so special was that it eased mental anguish and courage to overcome her fears… She was searching for a way to help with her decision.

"… Ok, now that I discovered the real gem I need to go to the museum, before it's late".

-00-

-Tick Tack-

'Natsuki…'

'…'

'Natsuki!'

"Hum?", blinked the blond, "What it is Satsuki?"

'You are sitting on the same spot for hours since she left, staring at this clock or the freaking door!', the voice said.

"Well… I'm just worried", he mumbled, looking down and hugging his legs.

'…'

"…"

'Why are you still without your glasses? She's not here'

"I know", he replied, "… It feels strange being without her for hours… Kind of lonely"

'… By now you should be used to this feeling'

"… I don't think anyone could be used to this", he replied looking back at the clock.

Satsuki, in the back of his mind frowned, being slight baffled.

What this girl had that was so special? The other times when Natsuki met other people he wasn't as affected to their disappearance even if it pained him a lot.

'What's so different about this girl? You wasn't as attached to the others like you are with her'

"… I don't know", he shrugged, suddenly looking sad, "I just… Like her… Too much… Like I never liked someone before"

'…'

"… At first I thought that it would be ok if she escaped and left me, I would survive", he buried his head in his arms, "But now… I'm not that sure"

'…'

"Sorry, you were there for me the whole time but…"

'Sleep'

"Huh?"

'Let me take control for a while', said Satsuki, 'I need to do something'

-00-

"Hum… Ok, it says that you need to place the gems in her eyes… But how?", asked Haruka holding the picture while staring at the two holes in the statue's eyes.

Sighing she sat while looking at the beautiful picture, that looked more like a photo per say than a drawing.

"It's really pretty", she breathed sliding her finger through the frame until a light started t shine.

Startled, she looked at the light with a surprised expression, before hesitantly putting her hands on it, surprised that it went through.

"W-Wha…", she squeaked, when her hands grabbed something hard, "I think I picked something"

When she looked at her hand to beautiful blue gemstones lied there.

"Oh… Right, now I need to place it on the statues eyes"

She took the small spherical object and placed on the statues eyes, which shined with a bright blue eye.

… But that's it, nothing else happened.

"Hum… I wonder if I picked the wrong gem…"

But somehow she doubted it.

"There must be something el… Oh"

She stared at the direction where the statue was looking and noticed that the wall was empty.

"Maybe…"

Haruka took the paper with the clues and found the frame where she took it off, placing both in the place where it originally was.

After she placed the picture it started to shine a bright purple light, and when it died out she saw a big tome, with an amethyst cover.

"It's like the crystal tome!", she gasped, taking the book that was floating in the middle of the air, opening it carefully.

-To escape this place there's four keys: Two acquired at night and two acquired at day-

-But before the clues are told you will be warned! The dangers that you will free have specific time, so beware to not be killed on their watch!-

-The first place is between 0 and 90, starting from 0 you go 2 to the side and 5 up after that-

-The second place… The Phoenix will once fly south, then the tigers run twice and the turtle walks three times –

-The third place is guided by Zhen, Zhen will direct you, then Gen will take your hand until you arrives at the old statue, there you must follow Xun, one, two, three steps and Dui shows the real place-

-The last place localization is y= x² - x - 2 , where x is the half (third)-

"Hum… I think I will need to go to the library again for the second and the third place"

"You're not going anywhere"

She got startled when she heard a unknown and grave voice, so she turned to see who was.

…And she froze on the spot.

'I-It can be…', her eyes widened in fear.

Standing at the entrance of the room was a tall man with blond hair, dark green eyes and menacing aura.

'He's… The same man that appeared in my nightmare!'

The man approached her slowly while she took some steps down, hitting the other side of the room.

She was cornered.

"You…", he whispered frowning while he put both arms on each side of the wall so she couldn't escape, "I know exactly what you're doing"

"W-Wha…"

"You want to escape", he hissed angrily close to her face, their noses almost touching.

She gulped, not knowing what to do.

"… Listen well", he furrowed his brows, taking a distance for her relief, "Don't dare to find a way to escape from here"

"…Why?", she asked, still shaken up.

"… I don't need to explain it to you", he turned, giving her one last angry look, "Don't dare to make Natsuki sad!"

"Who…", she stuttered, still scared, "Who are you?"

"Satsuki", said the man, "Natsuki's guardian"

-00-

Haruka stood there for a while still shaking.

"What he meant by Natsuki's guardian? Of what he's protecting him?"

'…Could you promise me that you will be back before night?'

She shook her head, now it wasn't time to think about that. It was better if she returned home before the sun set.

-Toc Toc-

"…I'm back", she mumbled, falling back when someone tackled her to the ground with a hug.

"Haru-chan! I'm glad that you're back!", said Natsuki with a smile.

"Uh…", Haruka froze on the spot when he saw his face.

"…Haru-chan? Is something wrong?", he asked concerned when he saw how her body trembled.

"N-No, I'm fine", she shook her head, trying to stand up while Natsuki got out of her, "Now, it's better if we enter as it's almost night"

"Ok! I will pick the plates!"

-00-

"Ah… I was very hungry~", he munched the food happily.

"I told you that you could eat if you were hungry right?", she shook her head with a half smile.

"Nope, I said that I wanted to eat with you right?", he chirped taking another bite.

"I see… Thanks for waiting me"

"You're welcome!", he grinned, "I would wait you for as long as it needed if it means that you will be back"

"Really?", she chuckled.

"Yes", he nodded, "… But I would prefer if you don't take too long, as it was lonely here"

"…"

"Haruka-chan", he said looking really determined, "I really, really like you"

She stayed in silence as she didn't want to interrupt him.

"... You plan to escape right?"

'It's the same question that Satsuki asked'

"…Yes", she replied, not seeing sense in lying to him.

"I understand…", he dropped his gaze.

"… But I don't plan on abandoning you"

"I don't want to escape", he said, looking her in the eyes, that looked pained.

"…Natsuki, what you fear so much? To be whiling to live in a place so deserted?"

"… I can't tell"

"Then I will wait", Haruka said going to him and hugging the boy, "I will stay with you until you feel confident enough to get out of here"

"… Couldn't you stay here if I asked?"

"I can't", she shook her head before she crouched down, "I… Made a wish to save someone, and I can't save him if I don't escape from this place"

"…"

"Please, don't be mad"

"I'm not mad", he shook his head, "I could never hate you"

"…And I will never abandon you", she gave a reassuring smile, "If you ever feel the need to talk to me be free to ask, I will try to help you as much as I can"

"… Tomorrow you will go out to find a way to escape right?"

"Probably", she nodded, "But even if I find a way I will wait for you"

"… Why do you want me to escape so badly?"

"Because you look sad and lonely", she said holding his hands and touching foreheads, "I don't want you to feel like that, a nice and cute boy like you deserve more friends"

"… I won't find anyone like that outside of this place", he shook his head, "the world is filled with bad people, I wouldn't be able to find someone like you"

"You will, I'm sure of that"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because you exist", she whispered, "If there's someone like you in the world then it means that there's a chance for a nice person to exist"

"…"

Natsuki let go of her hands and ran to his room, covering himself with his blankets.

His heart was beating too fast!

"I-It's scary…", he mumbled, his face beet red, "I thought that I liked her a lot but somehow I feel like I like her way more than before… H-How's that possible?"

It was very intense… The feelings he had made him feel like telling everything about him and blind believing in her kindness, which was very scary as he felt very vulnerable now.

… And there's her warm… He couldn't get enough of it, and in these hours of absence he became painful aware of how cold it felt.

…

He felt hopeless in love with her.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000-**

**I SWEAR THAT I'M NOT INTO SHOTAS, but I won't spoil anything, just going to say that I may tear everyone's heart apart in this arc and laugh as you cry! :D*Headshot***

**Satsuki won't be pleased though to be ignored after he told her to not try to escape~ But MWHASAHSAHS, sorry Satsuki, you gonna be snatched by her charms too KUFUFFUUUFFUF**

**...**

**Kufufuf, now REVIEW TIME!**

**GlamGurl17 **– Hum… Maybe I should make gaiden chapters to show how he's hehehe, yeah, heard it a lot, I was sleep deprived and my thought wasn't clear when I wrote this story XD

**Brandnewmelody**- I know, it isn't as long as before ;w;

50?! Ok, I don't think this story will be that long! Just a bit more than 24, but not 50 XD


	11. Chapter 11

The place was so blurry that she could only make the outlines of a bridge, a figure standing on the border and the sound of the water.

And she was running to the figure feeling worried.

"Please don't jump!", she said, thinking that whoever was at the edge planned to kill him or herself.

"… Don't worry, it isn't my intention", replied the figure, turning to her, his or her voice so distorted that was difficult to hear anything beside noises.

"But… You're looking down…"

"I'm sad", the figure replied, "But there's no need for a stranger like you bother with me"

"Hum… You could tell me about your problems", Haruka said, taking a step closer, "It won't solve anything but it may help you feel better"

"… I don't think I would feel any better if I told you", the person replied, his form starting to distort, "I… Need to save people but I don't have the power to"

"Save people?"

"Yes, my happiness depend on it"

"…In that case, if I can do anything to help these people I would be happy to help"

"… Anything huh? Even dying?"

She opened her eyes and sat, staring at her covers.

"…That's the first time I dream of something different from being killed on that bridge…", she mumbles to herself.

But what that dream meant? And why she wasn't able to tell who it was?

"You finally woke up"

"Huh?", she turned when she heard the voice, almost having a heart attack when she saw the blond and tall male frowning.

"I told you to not try escaping but it seems as you ignored my warnings", he frowned hard holding her neck with one hand, which made her gulp even if he wasn't using any force at the moment.

"I…", she stuttered, her heart beating fast as fear flowed through her body.

"Do you want to die?", he whispered dangerously.

'Stay calm Haruka, if the recent nightmares are a future memory then you're only going to die in a bridge, not here'

'…Don't be reckless, a future memory changes depending of yous choices'

Yes, that's true, she couldn't be reckless even if the memory she had was a future one.

"No, I don't", she replied in a timid voice.

"Huh, to me it seems that you want to die", he smirked, "Don't you believe me? I can break your neck easily"

"I-I know that you can kill me", she stuttered, but even with her fear she looked him straight into his eyes, "I know."

Satsuki blinked in surprise, letting go of her neck while standing back, his eyes still on the girl that took a long breath, but also didn't stop staring him.

'What's with this girl?', he thought frowning.

He couldn't understand her reckless attitude as he could sense that she indeed believed that he would kill her, and she wasn't a fearless fool either, her trembling body and scared eyes told so.

…But then, why she risked her life like that?

"Why did you ask Natsuki to come with you?"

"Because he needs to get out of here", she answered with sincerity.

"Tch, and you think that you understand what he needs?", he snorted, "He doesn't trust people, so this place is perfect for him"

"…I don't think so, he's lonely"

"He has me, it's enough"

"It isn't", she shook her head.

It was risky, talking back like that, but there was something... A hunch maybe, that told ehr that everything's would be alright as long as she kept being honest.

"Oh, and you want to say that the one that he need is you?", he asked sarcastically.

"…No", she shook her again to his surprise, "It isn't only me, he needs more friends"

"… He doesn't know how to deal with them, and besides, in the end everyone abandons him"

"…It's impossible to not be disappointed when you interact with people", Haruka said more firmly, "Even if the person loves you she's bound to make some mistakes and even if you love someone you may hurt her even if you doesn't intend to, but that doesn't mean that you aren't loved!"

It was like a slap to his face, hearing the words that came from the girl that was shivering, minutes ago, from fear.

…But he wouldn't let her talk crap about what she didn't understand.

"Pff… Hahaha, you talk as if you knew about his issues...!", he laughed loudly, "You don't have the right to talk about things that you don't know about!"

"It's true that I don't know a lot about Natsuki but I know that you don't give him enough credit", she said, incredible aware that the man was pissed and that it wouldn't be smart to upset him more than he was, but she couldn't stop herself, "He's stronger than you believe"

"And you're basing that on…?", he arched an eyebrow.

"… He told me about other people coming here and leaving him", Haruka said looking down, clenching her hands, "… And he said that he's more than 1 year here… But I feel that's more than that right?"

"…"

"It's hard to be alone for such a long time, and the fact that he can even smile is a proof of this! I… I don't think I would have the strength to do that"

"…"

"That's why…!"

"…Do you think you can escape from this world?", said Satsuki suddenly.

"…Yes, I managed to survive a lot of dangers in the last place where I was", she replied, "Thanks to a dear friend we both overcame the difficulties"

"Tch, I bet that you made him do all the dirty work for you"

"…Is that really the kind of person you believe I am?", she asked sadly, which took him aback.

"…"

"We worked together and suffered a lot together", she said taking her curatives off, "These scars… Are proof of that"

"…"

"I assure you that I will find a way"

"…Don't make promises that you can't fulfill", he said seriously with a stern face, "Besides, this time you're on your own, I won't put Natsuki in danger"

"… Couldn't you help me?"

"What?"

"For the sake of Natsuki wouldn't you help me?"

"No"

"But why n…"

"Because… Natsuki and I share the same body", he closed his eyes, "While one is outside the other sleeps on the corner of the conscience… At least, Natsuki does it"

"…"

"… Like I said, you're on your own"

-00-

"Let's see… I remember that before turning into a tome it was an old paper with squares and a giant rose wind draw on it… So the riddles are different ways to indicate where it is and the squares must be the buildings…", she said picking books, "Hum… I need to discover where the center is, but there isn't any book with a map of the city…"

Where could she find a map other than the library?

"Hum… Maybe in one of the stores?", she tapped her cheek with the pencil, "… No, besides the mannequin and toys store I don't think I saw any other in my way"

But she's sure that she saw it before, and it wasn't in a store.

'And there were others things besides the map… On the wall'

…

"The gallery!"

She stood up and took some books and put on her bag, taking the old bicycle and going to the gallery.

When she arrived she went straight to the big hall where a painting was bigger than her.

"It's so detailed… I can't find the center using my eyes as the picture is big…"

Haruka sighed, she wasn't the kind to complain but sometimes these riddles and games could be very annoying and exhausting.

… Well, at least she could say that they made her sharper.

"I need to find something to… Oh! I know!"

She picked the frames of some paintings, testing to see if they had the same size.

"Good, it's the same size, I just hope that I can fill the painting and I don't even need to bother with taking the giant frame!"

She placed the rectangle frames side by side, using 8 of them on the base.

"Ok… I found the middle on the base, now…"

She did picked a chair and got up, putting the other frames in a straight line counting them until it hit 10.

"Ok, 4 frame to the side and 5 frames up… Here! There's a totem on the middle!", she marked, "Eh… It's pretty far from here… Luckily I have the bicycle with me"

She took the amethyst tome from her bag and opened it, along with the books that she brought.

**-To escape this place there's four keys: Two acquired at night and two acquired at day-**

**-But before the clues are told you will be warned! The dangers that you will free have specific time, so beware to not be killed on their watch!-**

**-The first place is between 0 and 90, starting from 0 you go 2 to the side and 5 up after that-**

**-The second place… The Phoenix will once fly south, then the tigers run twice and the turtle walks three times –**

**-The third place is guided by Zhen, Zhen will direct you, then Gen will take your hand until you arrives at the old statue, there you must follow Xun, one, two, three steps and Dui shows the real place-**

**-The last place localization is y= x² - x - 2 , where x is the half (third)-**

"Ok… The first and the last are pretty similar in a way as they are graphs… First is about degree so… It's between north and east… And it mention 2 to the side and 5 up right? Phoenix, Turtle, Tiger and Dragon, the Feng Shui animals, Phoenix is South, Tiger is west, Turtle is North and Dragon is east… Let's see… once = 1, twice =2, turtle = 3"

Well, thankfully, for once, the first two were easy.

"Now… the other two depends more of when I arrive there"

…It seems as she would do a lot of running that day.

-00-

"Out.. Of…Breath", she gasped stopping close to the totem.

She looked at the object with curiosity; there were some carvings on it and star openings.

'Huh… I bet that this will be important for later… I better write this on my notes'

"Ok, now let's go and find the first door!"

It wasn't difficult to find it, it was kind of weird seeing the tall buildings around when there was a purple door standing there with a beautiful and detailed drawing of a moon.

"I think it should be this place", she blinked in confusion, staring the amethyst tome that didn't react, "…But why it isn't reacting?"

'**To escape this place there's four keys: Two acquired at night and two acquired at day'**

"… Maybe I can only open this door at night?"

She shuddered when she remembered the creepy thing staring her the night she was sleeping on the library.

'I hope there's a way…', she gulped.

Deciding that there wasn't anything else to do there she decided to go for the second place.

The second door had a drawing of sun, which started to glow as soon as she took the amethyst tome out of her bag, making the door open in a silent creak.

She stepped inside and found, to her surprise, a simply room, with something written on the wall and a big painting of the city, like the one she found on the library.

"What's this…", she blinked, approaching the panel where was something written, "Unlock 2 places, you have 4 hours to beat and no time to have fun, beware of mistakes as time is short"

As soon as she finished reading a purple light glowed on her arm, with a dark purple clock appearing on it.

… And she could hear the sound of a heart beating.

"Oh My God!", she shrieked when she noticed that each ticking of the tattoo in her arm beat at the same time as her heart.

What was she supposed to do? The riddle didn't tell anything, just told her that she had only "4 hour to beat"(which she was pretty sure that it meant her heart) and warnings.

She tried her best to stay calm.

The answer was in the room and she was sure of that.

She looked again, around her, but the room was very empty and the only thing that it contained was the painting.

"There must be something related to this paint", she looked at the picture, touching the painting.

A purple light erupted from where she touched, and she was engulfed in the light, disappearing.

-00-

"Huh? Where am I?", she blinked, looking at her surroundings feeling confused as she saw that she was outside, in the middle of the avenue with the tall and grey buildings surrounding her.

She was in the east zone.

"How? I' was in the western zone not long ago…"

The painting.

"…"

She started to run like crazy, back to the second door, looking very worried as her hand told her that she wasted 15 minutes with her mistake.

"O-Ok, time is precious but I need to concentrate this time… And pick my bicycle", she gulped taking the old bicycle inside the strange door and looking at the panel again, "There isn't a lot of information here… Let's pick only what I don't know"

Unlock 2 places

You have 4 hours to beat

No time to have fun

Beware of mistakes as time is short

"Ugh… It means that I will need to find 2 places?", she blinked in worry, "I'm now aware that mistakes means wasting time and that I shouldn't slack off…Eh, thinking better the last two are pretty redundant"

… This meant that one of the last two held the key for the localization.

"Beware of mistakes as time is short… I think it's pretty straightforward", Haruka blinked, horrible aware of the beating and the ticking sounds, doing her best to not pay attention to it, "… It must be the 'No time to have fun'"

'I don't think I have time to enjoy anything anyway', she shrugged, when an idea came to her mind.

"This message is pretty adamant about not wasting time, but to specifically state that I shouldn't be having fun… It must mean a place where usually I would have fun right?"

The amusement park.

"The amusement park", she nodded, touching the drawing with her fingers, the dark purple light appearing again.

"Now, I need to do something here?", she blinked when she looked around, the place eerily empty and looking pretty clean and new, like it was waiting for someone.

"Good grief, and welcome to the amusement park!", said a voice behind her, which made the girl squeak.

It was a tall and slim doll of a man with funny and long nose, which held a cane.

"W-Who are you?"

"No one, just the owner of this park", he grinned, which she found disturbing as his teeth was sharp and had a metallic sound, "Say… Because you're my first costumer I can grant you a special gift! Just ask!"

'I'm pretty sure that I'm meant to ask about what I need to do, It's only one question so I must be careful'

"Huh…", she started fidgeting, "I'm pretty sure that this place is linked with the first riddle of the second door, so I want to know what I need to do here to accomplish it"

"My... Pretty straightforward huh?", the doll chuckled, "Very well, I shall answer it: You see, when you finish each game the key will be more evident, do you understand?"

"… I think so"

"Great!", it clapped it's hands, "Now, to accomplish the first task you must enter 4 rides and after that return to the door!"

"That… Will consume a lot of time!", she gulped looking at her clock.

"Yes, you need to manage it wisely as you still need time for the 3 other places", he nodded, "Now, there's a list of our rides and how long they take… Ah! Ando also of popularity, you must take care with our lines!"

"What lines?", she blinked.

"These lines", the thing clapped his hands, disappearing while a crowd of shadows appeared everywhere.

"My…", she blinked, her mouth hanging open before she decided to look at her clock, startled that she already wasted half of the first hour.

**-List of Popularity and Hour-**

**Bumper Cars Go Karts**

High/30 min Medium/1round

**Car Ride Swinging Ship**

Medium/1 round High/30 min

**Ferris Wheel Water Slide**

High/45 min High/1 round

**Haunted House Hedge Maze**

Low/Find exit Low/Find Exit

**Merry-Go-Round Slide **

Medium/5 rounds Low/finish

**Observation Tower Roller Coaster**

High/40 min High/One loop

"Huh… I must make a list of these three… The lowest lines must be Haunted House, Hedge Maze and Slide… The others have a fixed time or one round, so I think I will choose Go Karts or Car Ride as usually they have simply courses… But then again, I also need to think of the capacity of each ride…"

She picked the pencil and started to write.

Capacity:

**Low:**

Slide

Haunted House

Hedge Maze

Merry-Go-Round

**Medium:**

Bumper Cars

Go Karts

Car Ride

Water Slide

**High:**

Swinging Ship

Ferris Wheel

Observation Tower

Roller Coaster

"Hum… The Roller Coaster is fairly popular, but the one with one loop back home could gather a lot of people and it was fairly quick… think I will go on that… Slides are fairly restricted but this ride is very unpopular compared to the other and fairly fast to end too… I guess I can pick it", she tapped her chewed on her lower lip, "Haunted Houses and Hedge Mazes aren't that visited, but I can waste a lot of time If I don't know my way… I think I will pick Go Karts and Car Ride as the last choice"

There, now all she needed to do was wait on the line!

-00-

"Oh gosh… I'm not the impatient kind but now I'm feeling anxious…", she stared at the clock in her hand, noticing that she wasted a good time waiting on the line.

"Next!"

"Thanks God!", she breathed in relief, sitting and putting the buckle, staring at the big loop, "… Or not"

The next thing she did was scream her head off.

"A-Ah… ", her whole body trembled while she took her bicycle and started to clumsily ride to the Slide, "I-I feel sick"

For her luck there wasn't even a line for this, but because her legs were still feeling a bit jelly she stumbled badly on the ground and injured her knee.

"Ugh… I will treat this when I am waiting on the next line", she sighed, taking the bicycle again and riding to Go Kart, which luckily was next to the other ride that she wanted to go.

"Ah… It feels so slow…"

"It isn't a fast ride my dear", said the doll-man appearing next to her, which gave her almost jump, "Please, don't mind me, I just feel the need to warm you about something"

"W-What?", she squeaked.

"Hum… ", it tapped its chin before a purple light shone on it's eye, a suave female voice coming from it, "Your heart race will be slower each hour… And your body too"

"Eh?"

"Sorry and good luck!", the female voice said, before disappearing, with the doll's eyes returning back to normal.

"Huh? What am I doing here?"

"Er… You're in a ride"

"Is that so?", he shook his head, "Well, the owner doesn't have time t play around! I must go off as soon as possible!"

And the car went faster and the ride ended earlier.

"Ok, I cut the time in half! One more to go and race against time!"

She put her bicycle close to the exit, so as soon as she finished she rode with all of her strength back to the second door.

… And to her horror she noticed that she didn't have more than 2 hours left.

"Oh dear… What's the next place?", she blinked, staring at the painting that had a glowing light in the place of the amusement park and the panel, that changed.

-The second clue is perfect; no living thing is as perfect as it is-

"Perfect… No living thing… Well, that's easy", she sighed in relief, "It must be the mannequin store that Natsuki showed me."

She placed her hand again in the painting, this time choosing the library as the store wasn't picture on the map.

-00-

"Hahahahaha, welcome WELCOME!"

"Huh…", she took a step back, when all of the mannequins turned their heads towards her, laughing creepily like a child.

"Now welcome gentle stranger…", said a voice coming from the mirror, "…Your test will be of beauty: You must make a doll like the one show in the reflection!"

Haruka gulped and stepped closer, seeing a doll with graceful features and a lovely wine hair, which had beautiful eyes of an intense blue.

"You can take them from the others mannequins, but… They can be rather annoying, and might ask something back", said the mirror, "You have the main body but the rest must be acquired"

Haruka nodded and went back to the mannequins, which were all looking curiously at her.

'How creepy', she shuddered, when she suddenly saw a mannequins with beautiful blue eyes.

"Ah! You!"

"Huh?", the mannequin smiled.

"What… What do you want in the place of your eyes?"

"What I want… Oh! I want a nice wig with the pink color!", the mannequin clapped it's hands, "Ah! And I want it in shoulder length!"

"Ok"

She looked around; none of the mannequins had that color.

"Hum… Maybe behind the counter there's some?"

She went inside the counter and found a messy room full of wigs, it covered every inch of the floor so it was hard to move around.

"Oh dear… it will take a while…", she gulped starting to pick the wigs and throwing around, trying to find one with the pink color.

Pink was a very uncommon color, and took a long time until she could find it in the endless sea of golden, blue, orange, green and red locks.

… And the few that she found all had long hair.

"Uh… I don't think there's other size…", she sighed, "Well, let's improvise, I need to find a scissor"

Thankfully the sharp object wasn't hard to find, so she just cut the hair and put the scissors in her bag in case it's needed later, going to the mannequin with blue eyes that looked at the wig with interest, putting it on her head and looking into the mirror with a pleased expression.

"Er…"

"Hum? Oh yes, the eyes", it chuckled.

Before thrusting its finger inside its eyes, taking the eyeballs and giving to her.

"Here, you can pick them"

"T-Thanks", Haruka bowed slight, horrified because of what she saw even if the being in front of her were made of plastic.

"O-OK, I need to find a head… And limbs", she trembled, "…Please, I don't want to see they taking their head off!"

"Hey… Girl!", one of the mannequins waved.

"Yes…?"

"See that mannequin over there?", it pointed to a solitary mannequin in the corner that didn't had limbs.

She blinked when she saw that looked to the talking mannequin, her stomach clenching when she noticed that it's head was the exact build she needed.

"I feel sorry for that poor fellow so if you find two arms for him I'm willing to give you my head"

"…Alright?"

'Back to searching around I guess…', she took a long breath, looking at the clock in her hand.

She felt a bit tired… And slight dizzy.

'I must hurry or else I won't be able to even move'

It didn't matter how much she walked around, she couldn't find spare arms.

"… What I do now"

"Hey! You! Take your foot out of my face!"

"Hum? Ah! S-Sorry", Haruka squeaked, jumping back.

"Ok, now stand me up!"

"Fine"

"Phew… Much better", it nodded, "Thanks"

"Er…"

"What"

"Could you… Give me one of your arms?", Haruka fidgeted.

"… Are you crazy?"

"Hum… Do you know who would be willing to…"

"Hey, I didn't say that I would give one of my arms", it said rudely, "… If you find something to dress me with I will give it o you"

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh! Then in this case…"

She took the old dress from her bag.

It wasn't that pretty, but she did her best to fix it.

"Hum… It isn't half bad and I like the buttons… Ok, It's acceptable", the mannequin nodded, taking the dress from her hand and putting it, "here, take this arm"

"T-Thanks", she paled when it gave his left arm.

After she took the arm and went to the mannequins without limbs, poking it slight.

"…Yes?"

"This arm… It's for you"

"Oh… I see… Thanks", it nodded, when Haruka put the arm on him, "… You're searching for limbs right?"

"Er…"

"Find one more arm to me and I will give you both of my legs", it said, "I don't need them as I'm fixed on the floor"

Haruka bowed to the mannequin and decided that the only way to have an extra limb was to find a mannequin willing to give it to her.

"Ah… A-Anyone willing to give a right arm?"

"I can give one", said one of them, that had his left arm in… A strange position, "You see… They made two right hands for me, so I don't mind giving one of the as I can't use it properly"

"Is that so?", relief washed her as it wouldn't take long until she put all of the remaining pieces on the 'perfect doll'

"Here, your arm"

"Thanks… Huh… I think it's easier if you take my legs"

"…For real?"

*Silent nod*

"Ah… I wouldn't be able to sleep today…", Haruka mumbled, taking the legs after some struggle, going back to the mannequin that had the head she needed, "Er… Mr. Man… Auch!"

She feel on her knees, feeling her heart hurt, her vision being slight blurred.

"… You don't have much time left", said a female voice, which she recognized as the same from the doll of the park, "There's no time to search for extra arms… Take this head and also the arms"

"But…"

"Hurry!", the voice said, "I won't hold it for too long and the other mannequins will be pissed when they find out!"

Haruka nodded, taking the mannequin's head and putting on the doll along with the others parts, taking the arms for last and putting on the doll.

"? There's something missing?"

"The hair", the voice said, before disappearing again.

"Huh? Why I don't have limbs… Ah! She stole it!"

"LIAR, LIAR LIAR!"

"CHEATER!"

The dolls started to shake and scream their heads off, Haruka, after finally recovering from her dizziness, went straight to the room where was the wigs and took the first wine wig she could find and went straight for the door.

…But there were a lot of the plastic and pissed things waiting outside.

"KILL…KILL!"

"CHEATER!"

"I'm sorry…", she said, taking the scissor from her bag, holding it firmly while she sank it on the plastic material, ripping apart one limb and kicking it back, which made it fall on the other mannequins inside the store.

"SHE'S RUNNING AWAY!"

"STOP HER!"

"Here!", Haruka put the wig on the doll, which glowed when she finished.

There was no time left and she felt it, taking the bicycle she pedaled as fast as she could, very aware of how slow and heavy her body felt, and how the world seemed to spin around her.

"Ugh…", she fell with thud when the bicycle collided with the totem, which made her hurt her elbows.

It was so hard… And she could barely hear anything, looking to her hand once more she saw, for her panic, that there was still 23 minutes left.

And her heart was beating so slowly…

'I need to hurry…', she thought taking a step with difficulty, "One step… I can make it"

It was painfully slow, and each step took a lot of her willpower, but that's something that, thankfully, she had a lot.

-00-

"I-I can't stand anymore…", her body fell into the door, which made a soundly noise.

1 minute.

'It's so hard… Why it hurts so much…? I can't…'

'I promise you, we will escape from here!'

…No, it isn't time for giving up, she was still alive!

She looked up and saw the painting glowing, trying her best to crawl to the wall, leaning on the wall and pushing her body up, her entire body shaking as her heartbeat and clock sounds become less and less frequent.

"15 seconds…"

She touched the frame and the picture emitted a strong shine, the painting disappearing, making a silver key appear and drop on the floor.

5 seconds…

She fell on the floor, her fingers numb while she tried to reach to it.

3 seconds…

'A bit…'

1 second…

'…'

Her finger barely touched the surface of the key, her head dropping on the floor as the tattoo of clock disappeared from her hand.

-00-

"It's sunset… ", Natsuki said looking worried, "And I can't see a sign of her"

'…I told you, she doesn't have the strength to escape'

"Don't say that!", he snapped, which surprised the other, "She… Promised…"

'Just because someone makes a promise doesn't mean that they will do it'

"She takes promises seriously", he said, with an older voice, hi image flickering for a second, before turning back to normal.

'Natsuki you…'

"Huh?"

'He's stronger than you think'

'… Nothing', Satsuki shook his head, '… Let me borrow your body for a second, I need to do something'

-00-

"I…"

She opened her eyes slowly, taking on her surroundings.

She was inside a room with nothing, except a big and red writing on the wall.

'Did I make it?', she blinked in a daze, looking at her hand and seeing nothing, 'Huh, the tattoo isn't here'

With a bit of effort she stood up, deciding to check the red writing before she went back.

-Now the rule changed, while the danger still lurks outside the light isn't safe anymore, protect yourself under the shadow-

"What this means?", she blinked hazily, shrugging and going to the door, opening it with a click and stepping outside.

… Which proved to be a bad move as something tackled her.

"Wha?", she struggled weakly, rolling on the floor until she got inside the room again, which made whatever creature that attacked her hurry to go outside.

Glowing red eyes stared at her.

"How…?", her eyes widened when she noticed that it was the same creature that she saw every night, when she went to the lowest floor, and that was always watching them.

The dark creature stood there, in front of the door, with a very disturbing grin on it's face.

"A-Ah…", she stuttered, her whole body shaking.

-Now the rule changed, while the danger still lurks outside the light isn't safe anymore, protect yourself under the shadow-

"It's the answer…! It still walks outside but now the light isn't safe!"

"TRAITOR!"

"KILL!"

"CHEATER!"

'I don't believe it, these things are still following me?', she though in disbelief.

The thing with red eyes sensed the movement, his head turned 180º and it ran to the angry mob of crawling and running dolls.

… She would never forget the next scene.

Making a nightmarish sound, the "thing" made long bones appear, while it flesh distorted making eyes and mouths appear around his body while his neck got longer and longer.

It enveloped one of the plastic dolls with the long neck, tightening it until it cracked and exploded.

…The other mannequins were terrified.

The plastic dolls tried to run, but the "thing" wouldn't take that as it ran and stepped on the with its long bones, looking quite delighted with the destruction it was causing.

"What the heck is that?"

"S-Satsuki!", she recognized the older male, "Over here!"

"Ugh… I didn' think it would be outside…", he cursed, trying to run.

The creature turned it's head again, after sensing the new presence, it started crawling like a lightning after the blond male.

'He's fast but he's not going to make it', Haruka thought worried with how closer it was, 'I need to distract it!'

"Hey!", she waved her arms before throwing the scissor on the creature, making a soft sound when it hit it's bone.

"Uh-Oh"

"Run Idiot!", Satsuki screamed approaching the creature and giving a strong punch in one of the bones, which made it crack.

The creature gave a powerful kick, which sent him flying to a good distance, seeing as it limped a bit and Satsuki trying to stand with some difficult, Haruka decided that it was her turn to act and she knew exactly what she needed to do.

"Damn monster… I will break your entire body if I need to!"

The monster let a big roar and ducked its entire boy against him like a way to answer the provocation.

… But at the last second someone kind of ran over him with a bicycle, which made he hit his back into the wall.

"Are you ok?", asked Haruka stepping out of the bicycle and running to him.

"Not thanks to you", he mumbled, "I said to run"

"It's ok, we're in the shadow", she nodded, "He won't do a thing while we are here"

Satsuki looked skeptical, but when he saw the creature changing back to its normal size and staring outside the shadow he knew that what she said was true.

"So… We're going to wait here until night comes?", he frowned, looking to the side and seeing as Haruka started to shake, "Nanami?"

"A-Ah… I'm too tired", she mumbled, dropping on her knees as she was on her limit.

She fell with a long thud on the floor.

"…I'm safe"

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**Apologies for taking so long, I have a nasty writter's block!**

**Close call eh Nanami? But Congrats! You sort of survived alone! HEHEHHE~**

…

**Review time!**

**GlamGurl17 –** Kufufufu~ Was you fooled into thinking that I killed Nanami? XD

**brandnewmelody **– Not everyone, I will have paths for the same quantity of colors mentioned in the tale of Blue, which means that we have only 4 paths left ^^'


	12. Chapter 12

She was falling...

There was a scream, but she didn't know who it belonged to as her body hit the cold water surface.

The current was too strong; no matter how much she struggled her body was pushed back to the bottom of the dark and violent water.

"I need to…", she tried to swim, horrible aware of how her entire body felt numb because of the lack of air.

'Please… I want to save…'

Her body didn't move anymore and she closed her eyes, waiting for her end.

There was light… Was she finally dead?

Haruka opened her eyes, blinking in confusion when she saw blond hair.

… And something soft pressed against her lips.

"HuHum…", she squirmed slight, noticing that her arms were being held.

"You finally stopped squirming?", said the male standing back, but still staring at her.

"What… Happened?", she managed to say.

"You were suddenly turning and gasping as if you were drowning", he explained, "Natsuki was worried so I did a CPR"

"Is that so?", she breathed lowly, "Thanks"

" Is that all you want to say? Thanks?… Don't you feel any weird with the fact that you're being pinned and that someone just kissed you?"

"Huh…", she blushed slight.

Well, it was kind of embarrassing to say that, but because it was the fourth time she was being kissed she didn't feel any weird about it.

…Wait, Fourth time?

"Phew… You're a weird girl", he shrugged and got out of her, sitting on the border of the bed.

Haruka sat with some difficulty as she felt her body still sore for all of the running and her heart almost stopping.

…But then again it could because of the new dream.

'What's that… it felt so real…', she closed her eyes, shuddering, 'It's the same bridge from the first day too… I'm sure of that'

She looked to the green eyed man, feeling very self-conscious and unsettled.

"What e you looking t?", he asked looking back to her which made her jump.

"N-Nothing", she shook her head, "Er… I- I want to thank you, after all you brought me here right?"

"I didn't do anything", he answered, sighing and looking back to her, "I'm kind of surprised, I expected you to die"

'Huh… I guess he's still hostile against me'

"Er… Satsuki-san, why do you hate me so much?", she fidgeted, "…Is that… Because I want to escape with Natsuki?"

"It should be obvious"

"…"

"I hate the fact that you force things without knowing why", he says, sounding less aggressive than the normal, "Even if you know what he needs how are you going to solve the issue without the reason?"

"…"

"I don't hate you per say", he closed his eyes, "But I still doesn't trust you"

"Why?"

"Because there's a chance that you might die here, I'm not going to trust you just for nothing and neither Natsuki would do that, even if he did wait for you"

"Is that so?", she chuckled.

"Why are you chuckling?", he arched an eyebrow.

"It's kind of a relief", she smiled, "You do care"

"…I'm going back"

"Eh?", she blinked when a golden light shone and his size changed.

"Huh? Haru-chan?", the boy blinked

"…Natsuki-kun?", she blinked back.

It took some seconds for him to realize that she was in front of him, but when he knew for sure that it wasn't a mirage he jumped in her arms, hugging her while relief washed over him.

"Ouch!", Haruka squeaked when her elbows hit the bed.

"Ah! Sorry, did I hurt you?", he blinked.

"N-No", she shook her head, "My elbows are scratched"

"Is that so?", he asked lifting her arms and gasping when he saw the wound, "Haruka you need to treat it now!"

"Yes, I will-"

"Please let me take care of it"

"There's no n-"

"Please", he asked with a serious voice.

"… Ok"

He hurried to the bathroom and took some plasters and cottons, taking her arm he cleaned the wound softly, as if she was made of glass.

"…Please don't try to find a way to escape anymore"

"Huh? Natsuki-kun…"

"I know you really need to go somewhere but it's worthy of risking your life?", he asked more frantic.

"… Yes, it's worthy it", she replied softly while he stiffened, "…Besides, this life doesn't belong to me"

"What do you mean?", he asked confused.

"I already died once", she answered closing her eyes while a memory of her bloodied body appeared on her mind, "I wasn't even supposed to be alive"

"…"

"It's thanks to this person that I'm here now", she continued, "I want to repay his kindness by freeing him of his fate"

"But if you continue like this… Then wouldn't you have wasted his wish of seeing you alive?", he was shaking slight.

"I'm not the kind that will turn a blind eye if I can help", she hugged him, "…I would do everything in my power to help"

'Would you be willing to die?', she heard a voice, from her old memories, which belonged to the stranger that she couldn't remember.

"…I would be willing to die"

"PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT!", he said, shoving her back and looking angry.

"Natsu…?"

"I don't want you to die! I don't want to see you hurt!"

"… Sorry, I shouldn't say something like that", she apologized, "But don't worry I know what I am doing, besides… I hurt my knee and my elbows because I fell from the bicycle"

"…Really?"

"As ridiculous as it sounds… Yes", she chuckled, "I survived a lot of things in the other world, so I got quite resilient"

He arched an eyebrow with a look of disbelief.

'Wow, his expression reminds me a bit of Satsuki'

"I know that you're worried, but I still need to go on"

"…"

"Say do you want to do something? ", she asked deciding that's better if she changed the topic of discussion.

"Hum?"

"I'm not going outside today as I feel a bit weak because I was running crazily yesterday", she explained, "So I think I will relax for now"

"…How bad you feel?"

"Some parts are a bit sore I guess"

"… Would you want a massage?"

"Hum?"

"I am quite good with it", he smiled, "Mama always loved when I did it… Well, when she had time that is"

"I see… You can show me", she said, deciding that it was better not talking about such a touchy subject.

"Ok! I will make sure to make your pain go away~!", he chirped like his usual self.

Haruka nodded, lying back in the bed as the soft fingers trailed over her skin.

'You don't have the right to talk about things that you don't know about!'

She remembered the words Satsuki said and guilty hit her.

She was mumbling non-stop about taking him out of this horrible and desolated place but she didn't make any effort to ask about why he was there in the first place.

It wasn't like she never thought about it, but she found it hard to approach the issue as Natsuki looked always on the edge about trusting people, and she didn't want him(or Satsuki) to distrust her.

'…But I need to do something, If I really want them to trust me I need to risk losing their trust', she thought when she felt a strong pain.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry"

"No, it's ok", she chuckled, "… Thanks, I'm feeling much better"

"You're welcome", he also chuckled, trailing his fingers close to her neck, his skin brushing softly against her silk hair, "…If you even need a massage you can ask me"

"Uhum… Now I can understand why you mother liked it so much"

"…"

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's not your fault", he said softly while his voice had a hint of sadness, "I just… Can't get over some things"

"…"

"I'm not prepared to talk about it"

"Then… Could you tell me a bit of your happy memories?"

"Huh?", He blinked, stopping what he was doing while Haruka got up and sat, staring him.

"I was thinking about asking more about you but… I felt that there's some things that you wouldn't be comfortable to talk about so I didn't know how to approach you about it", Haruka explained, "Hum… If… If you don't feel comfortable in telling that, then could you tell anything that made you happy? I want to know more of you"

Natsuki blinked in surprise like the idea never occurred to him, so it took a while until he could properly answer.

"Hum… I guess I never thought about it but… I had a dog", he smiled, remembering how his dog would always yep in happiness and they would play for hours, "Her name was… Elizabeth"

"Elizabeth? And how she was?"

"Always full of energy", he grinned, "And very cute too! In a way you kind of remind me of her"

"Oh? And in what way?", Haruka asked with a amused expression.

"Dunno, I think because you're both cute and you make me feel happy"

"Is that so?", she chuckled, "I would love to see her, I love dogs! Ah… She doesn't bite does she?"

"No", he shook his head, "She's very kind and I bet that she would like you too!"

"Really? I'm glad to hear that"

"…And you?"

"Hum?"

"Do you have any pet?"

"Well… I have a cat named Kuppuru", she tilts her head.

"Hum… Is he nice?"

"He's nice to me but… He doesn't like man, for some reason I think he glares at them"

"Oh…"

"Sorry, if my pet isn't as sociable as yours"

"Nope, that's ok", he shakes his head, "I can understand him; if you were my owner I would be a bit jealous too!"

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't think I can get enough of your presence", he replied, falling into the bed and resting his head on her lap while he stretched his hands, "I love being with you!"

"I also like being with you"

"Hum… But not in the same way that I feel", he whispered.

"Sorry, I didn't hear what you said"

"It's nothing", he shook his head.

"Er… Ok?", she tilted her head, "Could you tell more about you?"

"Hum… You see…"

-00-

They spent their whole morning talking with each other, and he was pleasantly surprised with how fun it was.

'I don't remember having so many good memories…', he thought with a fond smile, "Then again, I didn't give it a good thought"

'…'

'What's it Satsuki?'

'You're determined to get out of here'

'...I'm still not sure'; he shook his head while he looked in the direction of the kitchen where Haruka was preparing their meal, 'But I want to help her, that's for sure'

'…It's dangerous, you would be in her way'

"I know that I don't have your size or your strength Satsuki, but… I will help her in any way I can", he said seriously, putting his hand in his chest, "Like her… I will do everything in my power to help"

'Natsuki…'

"Natsuki-kun the lunch is ready… Eh?", she gasped in surprise.

"What's wrong?", he asked, puzzled with her reaction.

"It's only me or… You seem taller?", she said approaching him.

"Eh?", he blinked several times, before he took her by hand and going to the next mirror he saw, noticing that he was indeed, more taller.

"Not only taller… You seem older"

"Oh that's…", he trailed off.

-Flashback-

"What's your wish boy?", asked the man with dark attire.

"I want… Someone that wouldn't ever betray me… No matter what", he said, crying in despair as he was betrayed again by someone close to him.

"…Do you know the consequences of having a wish granted by me?", he asked.

"…"

"If I grant your wish it will make you alone", the man explained, "You will receive someone that will never think of betraying you, and will protect you from ANY harm"

"… It's ok, I don't mind being alone", he replied, "I can't be more alone than now"

"…"

Then man nodded sadly and pronounced some words, while in the next instant he saw himself surrounded by tall buildings in a city without anyone.

'Child you have another curse', his voice echoed, 'You won't grow up unless your heart gets strong'

-End Flashback-

"Natsuki-kun?"

"…My heart is growing stronger", he said putting his hand gently on his chest, "… I don't know how but… I'm sure that's thanks to you"

"…Thanks to me?"

"Yes", he nodded, "Haru-chan, I am not strong enough now but… I will help you, if you need anything ask me"

"Nats… Alright"

She knew that the boy in front of her was talking serious, and even if he couldn't fight against the horrors that waited in the next door she was sure that he would be of great help.

But at the same time… The feeling of dread came back to her.

'What's this feeling…?'

"Are you feeling alright?", Natsuki asked when he saw her expression.

"Y-Yes… I'm alright", she said, chuckling awkwardly.

-00-

That night, when he slept, cuddling with Haruka, he had a strange dream with a woman of purple hair.

"Good night", she greeted.

"Who… Who are you?"

"I'm the Purple Lady", she answered, looking sadly at him, "I am always looking after you, ever since you arrived in this world"

"If that's true then why we never met?"

"Because I want to see if you hold the key to my question", she replied, "The question of trust"

"The question of truth?"

"Yes", she nodded, "I believe this girl hold the answer for that but…"

She was quiet, looking solemn, which worried him.

"…What?", he asked, his heart beating fast, "Something bad will happen to her?"

"…Yes"

"What?"

"… I can't tell you the truth as I believe in her", the purple haired woman shook her head, "I will give you this"

The woman put her hands together and silent prayed for a couple of seconds before a gentle and warm light shone, making a big and pretty amethyst appear.

"This is a ''wish", she said, handing it to him, "I'm not as powerful as Black or White but… I guess it's enough"

"Enough for what?", he asked, but the woman started to fade, "WAIT!"

"…You will know when the time comes", the woman cried, giving a last look at him, "Just remember that… Not matter what, she will keep her promise"

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00-**

**This chapter was weird right? Oh… Wait after she unlocks the three remaining keys, hehehehe, Satsuki, you're too tsundere in this chapter Pfffff….**

**And who's the person that made the wish to revive Haruka? DUN DUN DUN!~**

…

**Ok! Review Time!**

**GlamGurl17 –** Kufufuf, prepare to be more trolled in the near future! HEHEH, don't worry, her designated partner will finally help her!*Cheers*, but there's still a very hidden danger in this path! Will Haruka reverse her "Future Memory"? Well, at least it seems that Satsuki is starting to like her :D


	13. Chapter 13

"So, you're going?", he seemed worried, "At night?"

"Don't worry, the 'thing' changed time, now it appears on morning"

"Huh... There's anything I can do?"

"For now, I don't think so", she shook her head, "But… I will tell you if I need any help ok?"

"Promise?"

"Promise"

-00-

She went back to the first door.

The place was already creepy, but because it was night and the streets are dark it added to her uneasiness.

"Well… Let's go", she breathed, pushing the moon door and entering the place.

As always, the room was empty, excluding the words on the wall and a big mirror.

**-It's a treasure hunt! The mirror shows what it wants and you must offer to it the object, putting inside the reflection!-**

**-Beware it's a game of two, Your only advantage is that the item will be visible only for you!-**

"A game of two? What it means?

She approached the mirror, staring at the reflection while the surface distorted and a small book.

"This book… I remember seeing it on the library!"

"Haha, good for you!"

"Who's there?", Haruka asked looking around.

"Over here", said a voice coming from the mirror.

Haruka looked back to the mirror and saw her reflection again, but this time, her reflection grinned, having red eyes in the place of her golden ones.

"I will be your opponent", she said, stepping outside of the mirror.

"Wha…?!"

"I also have your memories", said Mirror!Haruka, "So I also know where's this book!"

She grinned and shoved her, running outside.

Haruka took an instant to get up and also run, noticing, for her dismay that the other she took her bicycle.

"Uh… I need to hurry!", she started to run as fast as she could.

She breathed deeply, her knees shaking when she arrived at the library, but a figure bumped into her, shoving her again, to the floor.

"Too slow~", the fake sang, "I already got the book, point mine!"

"A-Ah… Wait!"

She breathed slowly and walked back, taking a bit of comfort in the fact that the next object would only appear for her.

'But I need to take care', she thought worried, 'I bet that there are a specific number of times that we will dispute and I can't let the other me win!'

But the question was: How she would manage to win?

"Geez… You sure took your sweet time"

"…How many times we need to do that?"

"The treasure hunting game? Hum… We already did the first so… Well, guess that's four times now"

'Four…'

"But I doubt you will win", the other shrugged, "You're too much of a wuss to do that"

"I'm not!", Haruka furrowed her brows, "I will definitely win!"

"Hahaaha", laughed the fake, "Oh… I want to see that!"

Haruka looked back at her doppelganger and then back at the mirror, waiting for it to distort again.

"It's… A paiting!"

"Haha, I will be on my… Ouch!", the fake screeched when she was hit on the head with a bag, "Dammit you cheater!"

"Sorry, I really need to win" Haruka apologized as she didn't feel right cheating even if it's necessary.

She picked the bicycle without looking back and rode like crazy to the exposition.

"Ok! The picture that I need is… Here!", she nodded, taking the frame and running outside, just to see the other outside.

"How…?!"

"You're human but I'm not", the other grinned, "Now give me the painting!"

"… No!", she ran, but was tackled to the ground.

'Ha! I said that you're too much of a wimp to win!", the doppelganger laughed taking the painting from her hands, kicking her in the process.

"Ugh…", Haruka coughed, feeling a bit of lack of air.

"See you!"

Haruka coughed a bit more before she stood up, sitting in the same place trying to decide what to do.

"This won't do… I'm not competing against a human being", she sighed, hugging her legs, "What can I do to have an advantage against her besides being the only one who can activate the mirror?"

-00-

"Oh you're back?", the doppelganger stretched, "About time!"

"…"

"Why are you making a serious face like that? Scared?"

"…No, I'm not", replied Haruka with a confident voice.

"Ready for the next?"

"Yes"

Haruka looked quite serious while she waited in front of the mirror, but she didn't wait until the image was totally clear, as soon as she could indentify what the distorted object looked like she bolted out there and took the bicycle again, to the surprise of the copy, that was too stunned as she didn't see what was the next object.

Of course, it took a couple of seconds before she composed herself and went after Haruka, who was riding her bicycle like a lightning.

"Ha! The toys store huh? Well, she thought that going ahead would buy her some time?", the double smirked, "Well, I can see the bicycle here, so it's a question of time until I can find what I came for!"

She waited a while, and like she expected Haruka exited the place holding a big bunny plush.

"Ha! Easy!", it grinned snatching the toy from her hands, "Sorry, but your plan didn't work!"

Haruka stood there in silence, while she took the bicycle again and ran back to the mirror.

"I did it! She fell!"

-00-

"Wrong", the mirror said when she put the item inside it.

"Huh? That can't be right!", the double blinked in confusion.

"I won this turn", said Haruka calmly while she put a plush of a chick out of her bag and inside the mirror.

"Congratulations, that's the right object!"

"How… What?!"

"Oh! I saw the next object!", said Haruka calmly, like it was nothing, "I better get going, see ya!"

"W-Wait!"

Haruka decided to wander between the buildings, avoiding the main road and being detected, while making sure that the other wasn't in her sight she dropped the bicycle and started to run on foot, going to the museum.

"Huh? She dropped the bicycle? It's a place near here?", the other blinked.

But then, she smiled.

"She's a idiot, I won't fall for the same trick", it grinned, "I will wait her, close to the mirror"

And she walked back.

"… Well, it didn't go as planned", said Haruka holding a book against her chest while she was hiding, "…What I should do…?"

She thought about fooling the copy by making her wait while she recovered the item and waited there, but it seems that one trick wouldn't work the same time.

"… At least she didn't pick the bicycle", she sighed, walking to the bicycle and deciding that she will use it.

Ok, so she didn't have the physical strength to subdue her and using tricks wouldn't work so what was she supposed to do?

"Ah… I don't know what else I can do to take her by surprise…"

By surprise…

Wait a moment.

"Ah! I know!"

-00-

"Huh… Any minute now and I will take her by surprise…"

"WATCH OUT!", Haruka shrieked.

The double jumped in surprise when she saw Haruka riding the bicycle in high speed and because she was too stunned to move Haruka hit her.

"Uugh…"

"Ah…! Almost there!", said Haruka standing and running to the mirror only to have her leg being grabbed.

"Oh no you won't!", the copy gritted her teeth, taking a firm hold of her leg.

"Let me go!", Haruka tried to kick, but the doppelganger got her other leg as well, "Ah!"

"Give up! You can't win against me!"

"Yes I can!", Haruka said, looking determined and throwing the book with all of her strength.

"NO!", the other screamed, but it was useless as the object drowned into the crystalline surface.

"Congratulations! You won!"

"Ah! Yes, I made it!", Haruka let a relieved sigh.

"You…"

"Huh?"

"Play time is over", the thing started to distort, it's voice sounding like static before going to normal, "This time I will win"

Haruka gulped and reached for the scissors inside her bag, hiding it carefully while the doppelganger picked her rudely by her shoulders, making her stand in the front of the mirror.

But the mirror didn't distort when she appeared, the only thing that was reflected was her scared face.

"Oh… I see… So that's the final item…"

"What?", Haruka turned her head, but was shoved with violence, while part of her body fell through the mirror.

"I just need to shove you inside the mirror", said the distorted thing, grinning madly while trying to shove Haruka.

Haruka tried to struggle with all of her strength, but it was proving to be useless as she was slowly being shoved inside the mirror.

'Ugh… I need to do something!'

Using her right hand to hold the frame of the mirror, she gripped the scissor and trust forward, taking the thing by surprise as the object hit it's eyes.

"AAAACK!", it let an inhuman scream.

Haruka didn't think, just acted, crawling between it's legs she got up and shoved it's back, which made it fall right into the mirror.

"...Congratulations, it's the right object!", the voice in the mirror said.

There was a strong light, and the mirror on the wall turned into another key.

"Ah… Two more key", she sighed, falling on the floor, and looking up as the writing on the walls changed.

-The creatures lurks the night, where's light and dark doesn't matter, he can enter the places-

-But don't worry, if you close a door he wouldn't be able to enter or to exit-

"… What?", cold sweat fell from her temples and she turned, only to see the thing behind her, "Oh… N"

It grew a long arm and picked her, flinging her across the room, making her hit the wall with violence.

"Ouch!"

It pressed her in the wall with it's large hand, the sound of something slowly breaking echoing into the room.

'I need to do something!', she thought in panic while the pain and lack of air almost made her dizzy, 'But I don't have the scissor anymore, what can I do?'

She trailed to weakly move her hands, but if she ever had something on her bag then it would be useless as she didn't had the strength to even move her hands.

"A-Ack…!", her entire body tensed when the thing started to put more strength.

There was… She was holding something.

Opening one of her eyes she stared at her hand and saw that she was holding the massive key.

'I-It's isn't a weapon but it's better than nothing!'

She struggled some more and with some difficulty she managed to free her arm, gripping the key she stabbed at the thing with all her strength.

The screech was so loud that she could swear that she got almost deaf.

Rolling on the floor, she sobbed because of the pain, running clumsily to the door and closing it with force.

The thing inside banged furiously, but somehow, the door managed to hold it.

"A-Ah…", she breathed, as relief washed over her.

Haruka dropped on the floor as her vision darkened, figuring that she felt too exhausted she didn't fight when her eyelids closed.

-00-

"Haruka?!", he banged his hands on the glass surface.

"Chill down boy, she's alright", Black said, "She just fainted"

"You call it alright?!"

"Well, considering that she's solving everything on her own I can say that's… Very surprising, such a frail girl being that resilient..."

"Please send me now!"

"Otoya", Black said, staring at the hourglass which had the boy inside it, "I told you what would happen if you accepted"

"… But what's the point if she dies?!"

"Well I told you that I would only send you to help her in the most dangerous place", the entity said sitting close to the hourglass, "… And I made it quite clear that the prices for the wishes wasn't unfair, but you wanted it to be granted anyway"

"Ugh…"

That's right; he agreed to do that, without thinking about all of the risks and ignoring if his life was in danger.

He couldn't bear it, to see her corpse inside that coffin… It tore his heart in half; he would do anything in his power to see her again, to see her smile.

Yes… He needed to believe in her and be patient, but seeing her suffer was hard to watch, he wanted so badly to be able to help her…

"There's… Nothing else?", he said suddenly, "Can't I offer anything else to help her?"

"No", Black shook his head, "You already paid a high price, there's nothing else to do"

"…"

"… But I understand why you're feeling so nervous", the entity nodded, "Even I… Feel a bit wary, as until now, I couldn't see a change in her future memory"

"What are you…"

"…Nothing", he shook his head, "It's hard to watch then it's better if you sleep… I will wake you when your time comes"

"… But what if she dies?"

"Then you will sleep forever"

"…What are you planning?", a new voice said, also locked inside a cage.

"Do you want to sleep too?"

"…"

"I'm very glad that there were so many people willing to throw their lives away for her", he said with a neutral voice, but clearly not amused.

"He didn't have anything else to give for you to put him on the risk of never waking up"

"Yes, that's true", it nodded in acknowledgement, "It's too small but I guess I can send it to her… If she uses it properly then it may be helpful"

"…"

"Be patient too, your turn will come"

"… What are you planning?"

"Hum?"

"Your first curse didn't work, so what will you do?"

Black smiled, but there was something very unnerving about it as it looked hesitant.

It was the highest price he would take of anyone, and for the sake of everyone's happy end he just hoped that the girl managed to survive until the bitter end.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000-**

**Short chapter is short again, and dundundundun~ And I know it's lacking, but believe me, stuff will happen soon~ HAHAHAHAHHAA*Evil laugh***

**Oh, and this chapter was pretty easy for her compared to the others, but that's because I want to give her a break before stuff happens and… Well, I'm with writers block and watching Pigeon Dating Sim and crying buckets Q-Q**

…

**Review time!**

**Brandnewmelody-** Just a bit, as he will grow the more he gets strong~ Desu, I will see you cry soon hehehhee

**GlamGurl17**- Me too, I'm too much of a coward ;w;, HEHEHE, Oh~ I'm glad that I made you like Kaoru XD, hahaha, and yep, it's better to be wary kekekeke~


	14. Chapter 14

"Sound of water...?"

"Hello"

Haruka turned, and saw a beautiful woman with purple hair that smiled sadly at her.

"…Who?"

"You know the answer", the woman said, holding her hands, "… What you will do now Haruka? After you see the truth?"

"I…"

"Haruka…"

'Who's calling me?', she looked up as she heard the familiar voice.

Everything was slowly fading, and she felt suddenly tired.

So she closed her eyes.

"Haruka…"

"Hum?", she mumbled, slowly opening her eyes as the rays of sun touched her skin, "Who…"

"It's me, Natsuki"

"What… Happened?"

"I was worried because you didn't return", he explained, "So I took your notes and went straight here to check if you were alright"

"I see…", she nods looking around and noticing that she was home, "Did you bring me home?"

"No", he shook his head looking sad, "I'm not strong enough so Satsuki carried you"

"Is that so?", she blinked before letting a chuckle, "Could you tell him that I said thanks?"

"Ah he can hear you"

"Really?"

"Yes, if we want we can be aware of what the other is doing"

"Oh…", Haruka giggled, trying very hard to not show an amused smile, when she felt a warm touch on her skin, "Hum?"

"Your skin is still cold…", Natsuki said concerned, taking a mug from the small table and handing to her, "Here, take this"

"Ah… Thank you", said Haruka taking a sip of tea, "…It's good… Hum? Natsuki?"

Natsuki put a cover around her and hugged carefully so he wouldn't hit the mug in her hand, touching his forehead on the back of her neck.

"Not tall enough", he mumbled, nuzzling a bit, "I can't fully cover you… I wish I could do that, more than anything…"

"Natsuki…", she whispered softly, putting one of her hands on his, "Thanks. You're very warm"

"Is that so?", he smiled, "Then I'm glad… But I still want to help you… To protect you"

He stopped smiling, looking to the new scratches on her legs and arms.

He wanted so bad to protect her… He didn't want to be useless and scared anymore...

"There must be a way… I can't let you get hurt again…"

"Natsuki…", she breathed, when his body glowed again, "Hum?! What…?!"

Haruka turned, while Natsuki looked at his hands in wonder as the warm golden glow enveloped him.

"You… Grew again!", her eyes widened.

"Yes…", he whispered in awe before looking at her, touching her face slight, "I… I'm almost there… I can look you in the face without needing to look up… We're… Almost at the same size"

He blinked his eyes, his nose almost touching her.

"It seems that you're getting stronger! Congratulations!", she smiled.

"Right… Hum… Maybe now I can help you!"

"Huh?"

"I am a lot stronger now", he chirped happily, " I don't think even Satsuki can deny it now! I won't get in your way!"

"Eh…"

'… I don't think he would agree and… If you get hurt I'm pretty sure that he will kill himself', she sweatdropped.

"Hum? There's any problem?"

"N-No, I trust you, it's just…", she looked uncomfortable, "It wouldn't be better if we ask what's Satsuki's opinion?"

"… He said that he wouldn't help you, even when I begged him he wouldn't agree to do that", Natsuki pouted, "I don't know why, because I can sense that he's worried too"

"…I guess he's just scared", Haruka says with an understanding tone.

"…Why would he would be scared?"

"Because… He…"

"Don't say one word!", said a different voice and Haruka felt being pushed into the bed, a hand muffling her voice.

He glared at her, a dark menacing aura around him.

…But she wasn't scared.

There was nothing to fear.

The one that was… Scared, like a lost child, was him.

"Stop looking like that!"

Haruka stared straight at his eyes, which made him more tense, his heartbeat loudly in his ears.

He couldn't stand looking at her eyes… There was no hate or fear... Just that warm look…

He avoided her gaze, there was no way he could look at her. It made him feel weak.

There was a soft touch on his face, and when he looked he noticed that it was Haruka, which trailed his face down to his shoulder and pulled him.

He was too surprised so he didn't offer any resistance when he fell on her, being too stunned when her arms enveloped him in a hug.

"What do you think you're doing?!", he frowned taking his hand of her mouth in a weak attempt to shove her, but without much success.

"Satsuki… Why do you fear me?"

"Tch, fear you? I don't…!"

"…Please, be honest", she silenced him with a whisper putting his head in the crook of her neck, "…Like I am with you"

"…"

"I won't hurt you"

"Heh… Who would think that a weak looking girl like you would resist that long?", he mumbled trailing the skin of her arm with the tip of his fingers, looking quite calm before his expression darkened as he touched one of the scars in the soft skin, "But you are still frail… Too much troublesome to be worth it"

"… You fear that I will abandon you… Is that right?"

"…"

"Satsuki… I won't abandon either of you, no matter what"

"Hahaha~How can you make a promise that you aren't even sure if you can hold on?", he let a bitter laugh, "It's nothing you have control!"

"Satsuki", Haruka called, which made him fall back to silence, "…What do you feel now?"

"What?"

"What are you feeling right now?"

"… Is that a riddle or something?"

"No…", she shook her head, "Do you feel… Cold? After all, my body was cold before you rescued me right?"

He arched an eyebrow not understanding her question, but decided to shrug and answer anyways.

"… No, your body is kind of warm right now", he replied, "Well, after staying for a while with a blanket and with Natsuki providing body heat it isn't surprising"

"Exactly", she said, "Satsuki, even if I were to die I wouldn't leave you or Natsuki, even if you couldn't feel me I would still be hugging you, to try and make you feel better"

"Pfff… What a bunch of n-"

"I died once"

"…"

"… But I didn't abandon people dear to me", she said softly, "I wouldn't abandon you"

"Heh… How can you say that after I threatened you?"

"When we first meet I was scared of you", Haruka said looking him in the eyes(which he didn't avoid this time), "But After a while… An after you rescued me of that… "Thing" I noticed that you weren't a bad person"

"Heh how can you be sure? I'm the worst part of Natsuki after all"

"…You aren't", she shook her head, "…You're the part that has all of his insecurities"

"…"

"That's the reason of why you have a hard time trusting me", she said.

"Pff… Hehehehe…", he laughed, "HAHAHAHA, well, this means that your efforts are futile, I won't rust you no matter what!"

"…That's not true"

"Hum?"

"You may have been born as the result of Natsuki's feeling but… You are a totally different person, with your own feels"

"…"

"That' why I ask again: Please trust me", she said with confidence, "Let's get out of here together!"

-00-

"It's… The third door", Haruka said looking at the door with a sun painting, "Natsuki… Be careful, it's dangerous"

"There's no problem", Natsuki nodded serious, "And Satsuki will protect both of us if it's needed"

"Ok", she nodded, taking the purple tome.

The room was spacious… And had a lot of weapons stuck on the wall.

"There's… So much weapons… Why's that?", Haruka blinked with a puzzled expression.

"Hey Haruka, there's some writings on the wall maybe…"

"NO!", She said loudly, which made him jump, "S-Sorry for scaring you, it's just that I have a bad experience with these writing on the wall and I know that it activate the game"

"Oh… I see"

"I bet that it's another game of survival so it's better if we choose carefully what weapon would be the best to use"

"Uhum… Well… think I can use any heavy weapon pretty well as Satsuki has enough strange to break walls with his hands"

"Well… In my case I… Lack the strength to use any of these weapons", she sweatdropped, trying to pick the weapons but realizing that mostly was heavy, "… I'm not good with melee weapons but… I think I did a pretty job so far with a key and scissors?"

"Key? Scissors?"

"…It's a long story", she sweatdropped, "Huh… I think I will take this… It's looks pretty sharp and light"

"I will take this lance", he nodded picking the weapon.

She breathed deeply and went to the wall, deciding that they were prepared enough.

**-Hunting-**

**-You may pick only one weapon and it's the only one allowed, and you aren't allowed to switch, I'm hungry, and I want a specific meal!-**

**-Four birds on the sky, black, amethyst, gold, sun-**

"There's a big hole on wall… With some… Fangs?"

"…Ah… Maybe it would be better if we read it first", she facepalmed.

'Tch, what a great start', said Satsuki with sarcasm.

'Satsuki!', Natsuki scolded mentally.

"Hum… It's better if we go outside…", said Haruka opening the door only to be taken be a fast shadow.

"Haruka!", Natsuki screamed, rushing outside, his eyes widening when he saw the sky covered with giant birds.

"What is that?!", he blinked several times until the saw one of the giant birds carrying Haruka, "Haruka!"

"W-Wow that's pretty high!", she shrieked looking down, struggling to be free, "I need to do something before I am killed by this bird!"

She gripped the knife in her hands and waited as the bird flew higher and higher until it was above the buildings.

"Now!", she stabbed the bird's wing.

The thing let a high pitched growl before they both dropped on the top of one of the buildings, Haruka rolling on the floor with the sudden impact.

"Ouch!"

"Haruka!"

"I'm fine!", she screamed, waving her hand, which made Natsuki sigh in relief before he saw a group of giant birds flying in her direction.

"WATCH OUT!"

"Ah!", she dodged.

'Natsuki, they are flying on our direction too'

"I know", he said, holding his lance.

'Let me assume, I can kill it'

"…I have a better idea"

Haruka wanted to go to the stairs and escape the birds, but they are attacking constantly and she could barely dodge the assaults.

"Ugh….!", Haruka squeaked when she was head butted by one of the birds.

"Haruka!"

"Hum? Natsuki?"

Natsuki was mounting one of the birds, holding the neck of it to the point that the thing flailed and gasped like crazy while he pierced one of the creatures that were close to her.

"I mounted one of these things so it would be easier to get here", he grinned, "Let's go!"

Natsuki used the flat part of the lance to hit the head of one of the birds and hold it in place, nodding to Haruka that understood the message and mounted it, using the bag as an improvised strap.

"We need to bring birds of the color black, purple, yellow and yellow again!"

"Well, you already crippled a yellow bird that's hopping there so… We need to find the rest", Natsuki nodded.

"But there's so many birds of different colors flying everywhere! It will be hard to find one that matches the needed color!", said Haruka looking around.

"Well, let's see for another angle!", he replied nudging the bird to go up.

Natsuki flew to one of the small windows and the bird crashed into it, breaking the glass, but because the bird was too big to fit there he clumsily flew back and Natsuki took the opportunity to jump and land inside the building.

"What's your plan?", she asked climbing the stairs.

"Huh? You landed on the ground floor?"

"Ah… Yes, I can't pull the same stunt as you", she replied a bit sheepish.

"Hehehe", he laughed, before looking outside, "These birds can't enter the building as they are too big, but I won't be surprised if they tried to throw themselves on it so we can use the opportunity to pick the ones that fall with the effort"

"…Natsuki, it's kind of scary the way you say that"

"Well, they aren't real birds and they look quite horrific", he blinked, "…Because if they were real I wouldn't do that as birds are very cute!

'…'

"… Ok?"

Haruka decided to help and observe as the birds made a big circle around the building, flying at high speeds until they hit the side of it, making a… Lot of mess.

"Ugh!", she felt sick and decided to look away.

"Haru-chan, are you alright?"

"I will be after we finish this", she said hearing another loud thud.

The sounds were constant, Natsuki took Haruka's hand and they both climbed down, being careful to not fall and to pay attention if any bird managed to break the walls.

"It's starting to get dangerous… This building could collapse at any moment"

"I know", he nodded looking through the window, "We need to go to the nearest building"

There was a lot feathers falling, so they took the opportunity, when the last batch hit the wall, to make a mad dash to the nearest building.

The birds didn't notice, that they could tell as when they arrived at the other building they still threw themselves on the other building that was full of holes and cracks.

"… Ah! They finally destroyed the building!"

"And a lot of them fell on the street", he said looking with concentration, "Do you see any of the mentioned birds?"

"Hum… Let's see… Ah! I see 2 yellows, black… Purple… It's all there!"

"Great!"

"Er… But they're kind of big, it will be dangerous and it will take a while until we can get it and go back to the door"

"Don't worry, Satsuki can take care of that!"

"Fine but… I will act as a bait"

"What you're talking? You can barely dodge these birds!", said Satsuki that switched with Natsuki.

"Don't worry, if I run through the narrow corridors between the buildings I can slow them and if I can get at the other door I can pick my bicycle!"

"…"

"Don't worry, it isn't the first time I'm in a dangerous situation"

"…Fine, let's trust your luck", he replied, avoiding looking at her.

'It seems that he's finally trusting me', Haruka smiles and nods.

"Thanks Satsuki, I will be back!"

Haruka went outside and let a loud whistle, which caught the attention of the remaining birds, flailing her arms and running.

The birds stared for a while before they flew after her, with Haruka running as fast as she could in the narrow alleys.

"…Let's do our part", Satsuki eyes narrowed after he confirmed that there wasn't any bird(alive) in the premises and ran to the corpses, surprisingly carrying two of them while heading to the door, "Urgh… These birds sure weight a lot"

-00-

"Ah! They are catching up!", said Haruka looking behind her while the mass of huge birds chased her.

It was a good choice in the end, because she was tiny she could crawl through the places while the birds stumbled and hit everything in the way, and the few that could clumsily get close to her she tried to scare away flinging the small dagger around.

"Ah! Finally! The bicycle!"

Now it would start the mad dash.

"Over here!"

She needed to make the group of salvage beast be as far as possible, at least until Satsuki managed to bring the birds to the door.

Meanwhile, in the door~

"Ugh… It was hard to make these fat birds go through the door", Satsuki cursed, shoving them on the hole on the wall, "Here, stupid mouth, take it"

"Congratulations, now let's go for the next hunt"

-There are four beasts outside, but because it's difficult I will be fair and ask only a piece of them-

"…What?", he blinked several times before he heard a loud roar outside.

…And when he opened the door he saw a giant turtle, tiger, bird and dragon outside.

"… Crap", he cursed.

-00-

Haruka was relieved when she saw that the birds disappeared like dust, but when she heard the loud roar of something, followed by a big flame in the sky she knew that something bad was coming.

"W-What…?!"

There was a big dragon in the sky roaring and destroying things with ease while the turtle broke things in the way.

"…"

There was no way she could fight against that!

"Unless…"

Time to return to the third door again.

"I hope Haruka is ok", gasped Natsuki while running with all of his strength.

'She's far from here, and these monsters are very showy, she would know that it's needed to hide in this situation'

"Yes, But how can we fight against those? They are big and very menacing!"

There was a sudden burst and suddenly a giant turtle fell right in front of him.

'What the…'

"Natsuki!"

"Haru-chan are you ok?", he asked worried.

"Yes but… It won't be safe to stay here", she said nudging him and taking his hand.

"What happened?"

"Remember that creature that always walked at night and stared us?"

"Yes"

"It was imprisoned inside the third door but because I thought that we couldn't defeat the beasts outside then I free it"

'She did WHAT?'

"Haruka, we need a piece of each beast and bring it to the room!"

"I-Is that so?", she stopped in her tracks, "But…"

"Well, I think that part of the turtle we have", he said taking a piece of the cracked shell on the floor, "…Now we need to pick the others parts"

"…Natsuki it's too dangerous to do that! The creature can be only stopped if we put him inside a building and close the door!"

"Well, we survived once, so it's possible to do that again"

"…Ok, I will… Huh?", Haruka said but a hand held her back.

"No, it's my turn", he said serious, "You already served as decoy and is tired"

"But…"

"Haru-chan, I'm taller than you", he smiled.

"Yes"

"I'm stronger now", he said, "Thanks to you"

She stared for a few minutes before an understanding and worried smile crept on her face.

"Ok then… I trust you, be careful"

"I will"

-00-

There was fur, feathers and scales everywhere mixed with blood, but the most horrific sight was still the big black monster in the middle, that was bigger than the tallest building, sprouting heads everywhere.

"This will be handful…", whispered Natsuki before he took a long breath, "HEYYYY! Mister shadow!"

The creature turned, still munching the remains of the dragon.

"Follow me!",he said starting to ride at full speed.

"I hope he will be safe…", Haruka mumbled while she got out of her hiding and started picking the scales, feather and fur, feeling sick seeing so much blood on the floor.

"Nice to see you, miss Haruka", breathed a voice.

"Eeek!",she squeaked, "B-Black?!"

"I came here because of a friend of yours", he said opening his hand and putting a small gold coin on her hand, "This is a gift of the dear friend"

"…A gift of a dear friend?", she blinked.

"Yes… He risked being put to an eternal sleep just to protect you", Black replied, "It's a small miracle, be careful when you use that"

"What does this small miracle does?"

"…It stop time for one moment"

"I see…", she said closing her eyes for a second like she was making a prayer, "…Thank you Black, and also give my thanks to Ittoki-kun"

"Huhu~ Clever as ever huh?", he smiled, "Well, Nanami-san I wish you good luck, I hope to meet you soon"

Haruka held the small coin as a lucky charm as she went third door.

"Huh? Natsuki?"

"I lost him, but not for too long, it's better if we hurry!"

She nodded and put the bloodied pieces of the best inside the mouth.

"Congratulations for going so far but… The peril didn't end and the last door… Is opened and must be closed"

"Huh? Last door? Does that mean that the fourth door doesn't need to be open?", she blinked when the hole spate the key to her and the word in the wall glowed.

-The Dark Enemy reveals his true form: Nothing is safe anymore, he can enter and exit any place at his wish and appear wher it satisfies him, the truth of his weakness shall be exposed in the last door, but time is of importance and you must find it before it kills you-

"Oh… No", Haruka gasped when the shadow appeared inside the room.

"Let's run!"

"Right!", she said running outside.

"How can we get to the last door?"

"The coordinates, I already did the calculus, let's go!"

She looked behind, the shadow slowly exited the third door, making a strange noise and a mass of black started to eat the door, slowly expanding to the closest areas.

"It's eating the place!"

They needed to hurry or the city would turn into nothing.

"Natsuki! Ride the bicycle and go ahead!"

"But…"

"We don't have any time to lose! We need to find it's weakness point!"

Natsuki nodded with a bit of reluctance, but agreed in the end as he took the bicycle and the small notebook in Haruka's hand, going straight to the last door.

-00-

…There was nothing in the opened room, only words.

**-The final key is the true soul of the being, take it and it dies~ The light can show you, show you where it is~-**

The light… What it means?

"It's better if I return, she must be far behind… She looked pretty tired after all"

He returned and like he predicted Haruka was there, gasping as she tried to catch her breath, he legs trembling.

"Haru-chan!"

"N-Natsuki, did you find anything?"

"Yes", he nodded, "The words said that the key is what make it lives and if we take that it will die"

"I see… Anything else?"

"Well, it said something about the light showing where it was"

"Hum… If my previous experience told me something it must mean that we need to use the lantern", she said taking the lantern from her bag, "… I don't think we have much battery left so it must be better if we find the key quickly"

They returned to the place where it was last left, and was very surprised with how, in the place where it had buildings, now had only the black goo.

"Ah… It's bigger than before!", Haruka held the flashlight and pointed at it, flashing everywhere is hopes of seeing the key, but without much success.

"Haruka! There!", Natsuki pointed to something shining in the middle of the huge goo, "It may be the key"

"Y-Yes, but… It's in the middle of this black mess… I don't think we can approach it without being swallowed like the buildings!"

"There must be something we can do"

"Perhaps…", she blinked looking at the dagger in her hand, "Natsuki, do you think that you or Satsuki would be able to throw this dagger in the way where's the key?"

"I think so, I have a good aim", said Satsuki switching.

"Please, try!", she nodded giving him the key.

Satsuki took the dagger, while Haruka held the flashlight in position, but when he threw it a part of the mass quickly jumped and swallowed the small dagger.

"… Well, it worked wonderfully", said Satsuki with sarcasm but his face was serious, "Any other ideas? Because we really need it"

"I…", Haruka firmly closed her hand when she felt something, "Huh? What is… A coin?"

'It's a small miracle, use well'

"I know! We can use this!", she said looking at the gold coin.[

"A coin? For what? Throwing it at the creature and seeing it being swallowed again?"

"Maybe yes!", she said, holding the coin, making a wish and throwing it will all of her strength.

As expected, the black goo took the coin, but when it did it, the black goo stopped completely.

"What the…"

"It won't stop for too long, we need to throw something!", She said, "Satsuki, do you still have your lance?"

"No but… I think I will improvise", he said picking the bicycle.

"Wait… Do you have enough strength to throw that?"

"Pff.. I can make holes on the wall with my hands, and you think I can't do it?", he smirked, but this time the smile was friendly, "… But it must be better if you are a bit far, I need to hurl it"

Haruka nodded and stepped back while Satsuki ran as fast as he could and threw the object will all of his strength.

The thing started to recover his movements little by little while it tried to stop the oncoming object.

Their hearts beat loudly in their ears while they saw in slow motion as the bicycle hit the target.

"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH"

The sound was infernal, but the bright light that came from the purple key made them forget it as the creature stopped moving and disappeared.

"W-Wow, we did it!", she breathed in relief when she picked the purple key on the floor, which made something else shine in her bag, "Huh?"

She took the amethyst tome and the other 3 keys that were glowing bright, opening the page that was glowing the most she saw a space to put the keys.

"What is this?", she said with a puzzled voice.

"Maybe you need to put the keys there"

"Hum… Ok", she nodded, putting one of the key in the book, which made it shine with a purple light pointing somewhere, "It's… Pointing somewhere?"

"…Do you want to go now?"

"I think tomorrow", she smiled putting the keys and the tome back in her bag.

"Huh, wasn't you the one that wanted to be out of here as fast as possible?"

"We need to rest first", she smiled, "…And treat our injuries"

"Ugh", he flinched when she touched one of his wounds.

"Thanks, both of you", she chuckled, "I feel a lot safer now that I can count on you!"

"Humph, I don't feel safe at all with you", he rolled his eyes, but it was clear in his voice that he was joking.

"Haha, sorry"

"… But you did well on your own for a weak looking girl", he mumbled.

"Thanks", she whispered holding his hand to his surprise.

She was tired, but at least there was enough strength for her to walk home this time and sleep in a comfortable bed.

That night she would be in a deep sleep without dreams.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000-**

**YAYYY! Her designated partner is finally helping her, and Satsuki stopped being a tsundere HAHAHA!**

**Hehehehe~ But too bad, it won't last and I will be quickly to put him out of commission in the next chapter, the dreaded one that I was talking about MWAHAHSHASH*EVIL LAUGH***

**Oh, and thanks for my new followers, I hope you enjoy my crazy story! xD**

…

**REVIEW TIME!**

**Brandnewmelody**- SOON GIRL, SOON YOU WILL SEE MWHAAHAAHHAA!

**GlamGurl17**-Yep, everything is dangerous and lol, she finally got a weapon but because I'm not fair of course she would lose it XD


	15. Chapter 15

"Careless as always"

Satsuki trailed his fingers over her silk hair as the girl slept peacefully next to him.

At first he didn't think too much of the girl, she just seemed ordinary and frail enough, but slowly by slowly, while he watched her interactions with Natsuki he noticed that there was something very different about her.

She was kind in a way neither experienced before.

She offered everything without asking for anything back, she didn't abandon them and even tried to approach him, something that he, himself, never thought as a separate living being.

"How can you feel so safe trusting someone while I feel weak?", he whispered stopping his fingers on his lips.

Ah… Yes…. He remembered, it was the place that he kissed her when she started to gasp and act as if she was drowning.

He kind of didn't had time to pay attention to what it felt like back then as he was too worried for that(yes, with reluctance he's admitting that he was concerned), and the thought of doing it looked very tempting.

"Huhum…", she mumbled, her brow furrowing slight.

"Are you having another nightmare?", he asked soflty, which sounded foreigner to him, "You seem very prone of getting them"

"No… I slept well", she whispered back, which startled him, "Satsuki, what were you doing?"

"Nothing"

"Ok…", she answered still in a sleepy daze, "Is it morning? It's already time to wake up?"

"You seem awfully ready to throw yourself in danger", he snorted, "Don't you know the meaning of fear you fool?"

"It's ok, it isn't scary because I'm not alone", she mumbled again, "Relying on someone makes me feel safe"

"Huh is that so? Weird choice on relying on us", he snorted again, "Hey, go back to sleep, it's still too early"

"Ok…", she nodded weakly without opening her eyes.

"You seem too comfortable sleeping close to a man… I'm more dangerous than you give me credit for", he whispered, kissing her cheek softly, "But you're lucky, because you're the only person besides Natsuki that I want to protect"

-00-

"Wow, the day look rather ominous", Haruka whispered looking at the clouded sky.

"Heh, are you scared of simply clouds after you fought with giant bird, beasts and a big shadow that can swallow everything?", Satsuki replied.

"It was always raining in my nightmares", she answered without looking back, "But…I didn't dream last night so maybe it's a good sign?"

"Look, if there's anything on the way I can take care of it"

"Hum? Oh yes, thanks", she smiled, "Hum…How's Natsuki?"

"He's still sleeping, he exercised more than he's accustomed and switching personalities take a tool on us"

"Is that so? Aren't you tired then?"

"No, I'm physically stronger, so it doesn't take a toll on me"

"Hum… I see…", she nodded, "Well we ar…"

She froze.

There was sound of water and in front of her was a giant bridge.

"Oy, what happened?"

"N-Nothing", she smiled weakly, walking until she saw the sign.

-Mirage Bridge-

-Some bridges are connect to others, and the tiles appear for a moment before they disappear-

-There are a lot of paths and you must be aware and change the course-

-The safe point is the red platform with the lever-

"Well, it seems very annoying", he scratched behind his head.

"Hum… The bridge is disappearing…", she made a comment as the tiles disappeared slowly, "And it seems to have a timing…"

"Well then, as soon as it appear again we make a mad dash"

Haruka nodded, there isn't anything else to do there and they should hurry before the rain started and made everything difficult to see.

"Ok, we did it, first platform"

"There's a sign here… It looks like a map", said Haruka approaching the sign, "Hum…It seem as we have two paths, one long and straightforward and the other that will take more time but has more platforms to stop"

"Let's use the straight path, I don't have the patience to lose time"

"Well, it's true but… I think the long path disappears too fast, I don't think I could run that fast even if I give my all", Haruka replied.

"I see… Let's take the short path then"

"Ok, but first it's better to change the lever so we can change the direction of the bridge", she said trying to push the lever without much success, "It's stuck!"

"Leave it to me, the sticks you call arms don't have enough strength for that"

"Alright, thanks"

"Ok, one, two…", He pushed the lever.

It took more time than expected, they needed to be very patient and wait to see in what direction the bridge appeared and also how many times it took before they could choose which path to go.

It wasn't a wonder that the rain caught with them.

"It's raining… It's better if we hurry before it intensifies…", Haruka sneezed, "Are you ok?"

"Hum? Ah, I'm fine", replied Natsuki.

"Eh? You switched?"

"Yep, I feel better now and I wanted to try and help you this time", he chuckled, "Besides, Satsuki hates being drenched"

"Oh I see…", she giggled.

"Are you ok Haru-chan? Your skin is cold"

"I will be fine", she replied taking the hair out of her face, "But it's better to hurry up and find the star"

"How can you be sure that's a star?"

"Well, I saw a totem in the middle of the city and it had spaces to put a star ornament, and I'm pretty sure that it must be important"

"Hum… Interesting… Hey! Look this one is different!", he pointed to some platforms floating in the middle of the air, "Ah! It's disappearing!"

-These small platforms have enough space for you to land, be fast and jump on time, be aware of the pattern as some disappear and appear in different times-

"In different times…"

"Hum… There's… 16 tiles, the ones from the middle are static, but the other disappears fast!"

"We need to be careful, it must be slippery with this rain", Haruka nodded, "It's better if we land on four, it would be safer to hold the tiles with our hands"

"Ok! I will go first!", he chirped cheerfully jumping to one tile to another without much problem until he arrived at the other side, "It's your turn Haru-chan!"

"Right, I just need to wait for a moment until the tiles appear in the correct order"

Haruka let a deep breath and jumped, she almost slip on the tile as the rain got heavier but thankfully she gripped the tile with her hand when she fell.

'My body is trembling… I hope the place where is the star is covered, it looks like the storm will be nasty'

"Haruka are you ok?", Natsuki asked with worry.

"Y-Yes, sorry for worrying you", she smiled weakly before resuming her jumping.

"There, got you", he giggled catching her in his arms after she slipped again in the last jump.

"Thank you"

"There's only one path now", he nodded looking in the direction of a tiny light, "Can you see the light?"

"Yes", she confirmed, "It's better if we are careful to… Wow!"

There was a loud sound of thunder and the rain, that was already heavy, got worse, the wind merciless howling and shrouding the bridge in a deep fog.

-What lies ahead is a lighthouse in the middle of the storm, but the path in full of dangers…

There's no choice once you step on the path, it will disappear as soon as you step on it, and you must take care of the fake tiles as you can fall from the bridge straight into the river-

"It's worrisome… We need something to make sure we won't step in the wrong place while running…"

"Hum… What if we don't walk in the bridge but… What if we walk in the bridge's railing?", he asks, pointing to the said railing, "It's large enough to walk in"

"It may work… Ok, but we must be careful to not fall, with this nasty wind and it's very slippery"

"Uhum… Alright, you go first Haru-chan", Natsuki nodded, "If anything happens I can catch you"

"Alright, and be careful too, Natsuki-kun"

She climbed the railing with some help o Natsuki, crawling a few moments, she looked back and saw that the bridge didn't disappear.

"It seems that it will only disappear if we walk in the bridge… Not in the railing", she sighed in relief, "Well, it's good, now we can process without worrying about that"

It was very painful, and she could barely hear anything, it may be only her impression but it felt as everytime she crawled one centimeter the wind got more furious and harsh.

"A-Almost there… Ah!", Haruka shrieked when a powerful gust of wind hit her, making her fall to the side.

"Haruka!", Natsuki screamed catching her hand on time.

"Ah! The wind is too strong…!"

"Don't worry, I will pull you!", he said with determination pulling her into safety embracing her as her breathe got ragged.

"T-Thanks"

"It's ok… I can see the light closer, let's go!", he said putting the bangs of her hair behind her ear, "We are going to make it right?"

"Yes…", she nodded, coughing a bit, but nodded and continued, with a firm grip on the sides of the railing.

'That was close…', she thought as her body relaxed, 'I think that being drenched is making me wary but… '

She looked in front of her, in the direction of the light.

For some reason she had a bad feeling about it.

-00-

"Ah! We finally arrived!", Haruka said dropping on the floor.

"Haha, it's quite warm here… It's coming from the bright star ornament floating in the center of the room", commented Natsuki sitting close to her.

Yes, there was a star ornament floating in the air inside a decorated crystal cage that had a small key opening on the base.

"Yes… I will take the key and…"

"Let's wait for a bit and warm ourselves before doing that", he said trying to take a bit of water out of his hair.

"Y-You are right I guess…", she replied quietly.

She didn't want to stay there… The bad feeling was so strong that she almost felt sick.

"Are you ok? You're trembling…", asked Natsuki concerned.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry", she replied with a weak laugh, but Natsuki didn't buy it, he got closer to her and put his arms around her in a tight hug, "Huh?"

"I will try to warm you for a bit"

"… Ok"

They both waited there as the sounds outside grew louder and louder and the storm got so thick that it seemed as if there wasn't anything else outside but white.

"I think that the storm is part of this place", Haruka commented worried, "It's better if we pick the star now before it turns into typhoon"

"Hum… I guess you're right", he agreed.

She took the key that was shining and inserted in the opening, which made the cage around the star disappear, Haruka carefully approached the star, feeling the dreadful feeling getting worse.

When she touched the star the ornament became red, and a strong light blinded her.

-00-

"Where… Am I?", she blinked when her eyes adjusted and she saw that she was in a huge garden.

"Do you think today dad will come?", she heard a familiar voice and turned.

There was Natsuki… He was small, like when she first met him and he was holding a cute bunny plush, talking to it with a sad face.

"He promised! There's no need to worry Natsuki! Promises are promises right?", he made a high pitched voice.

"Yes… You're right! He promised!", he managed a weak smile.

'…He looks alone… Talking to a toy… Doesn't he have anyone to play with?', she thought trying to reach for him, only for her hands pass him.

"Huh?!"

"But… Even though he promised, dad didn't come", a voice softly said.

"Is that…Natsuki's voice?", Haruka blinked looking around, as the red light shone and the scenario changed.

He was sitting in the sofa, staring at the telephone with an expectant face.

"Master Natsuki?"

"Jena… Did my parents… Let anything in the mailbox?"

"No, sorry", the maid shook her head.

"… It's my birthday… Why aren't they calling to wish happy birthday?", he whispered, "I don't expect them to come but… Only Happy Birthday… Please, just say it…"

"Hum… It isn't better if you call them Master Natsuki? You know how busy they can be"

"…Right", he replied taking the phone and dialing the number, waiting until the line was picked up, "…Mom?"

"Natsuki, I'm very busy right now, I will talk with you later when I have time"

"…Ok, sorry", he ended the call, dialing another number, "…Dad?"

"Natsuki? Why are you calling? Be fast, I need to go to a meeting"

"Huh… Today is my birthday"

"Is that so? Well then, I can't return right now but I will make sure to send you a cake ok?", the man said on the other side of the line, "Sorry, it will start now, I need to end the call"

-Click-

"…I waited for the cake… They didn't say 'Happy Birthday' or even send the cake…"

"I waited for days and weeks but… They never sent it… or remembered my birthday"

"Natsuki…", Haruka called him softly when she heard the anguished voice.

"It was always like this… They made promises that they couldn't fulfill but I always believe it… Maybe… I just hoped that one day it would be true so I always waited"

"…Why do you keep promising me things that you won't do? It's ok, I would understand if you told me that you couldn't do that but… Hoping and having my wish being crushed was terrible, it was hard to keep believing in your words"

"… Please, just tell me truth… I wouldn't be mad… I just… Want to believe in you… I'm scared…"

"I was scared", said a new voice that sounded closer.

"Natsuki?", Haruka called seeing the real Natsuki standing in front of her.

"I loved my parents and I knew that they didn't do that because they are bad but… I became resentful", he continued, mumbling darkly with glassy eyes, "I started to hate the people loved and… It made me feel lonely…"

"Natsu…"

"You hurt him… I can't allow that!", said a deeper voice.

"Huh?"

He stared her with his dark green eyes, a hateful expression on his face.

"Natsuki?"

"Satsuki", said the dark voice as he took a step forward.

She took a step back, there was something wrong with Satsuki, he wasn't normal.

"Oh… Scared are you?", he grinned with a dark tone, "You just open his wound and leave him hum… You're despicable"

"Satsuki… What happened to you?"

"Die… Die… DIE!"

The red light stopped shining and she saw herself back in the lighthouse, barely dodging when the taller male lunged at her.

"T-There's something wrong with him… I'm sure that's not Satsuki!", she breathed heavily.

"Yes… I'm Satsuki… And I won't let you harm Natsuki, no matter what…"

She gulped and put the star ornament in her bag and ran as fast as she could.

"I can't let him catch me!", she said, sure that if it happened it would be her end!

She ran through the bridge… It looked like another path as it didn't start to disappear as soon as she stepped on it, maybe it's a safe path that appeared after one arrives at the lighthouse?

"It's so dark…", she commented looking at the sky, "What time is it? I hope there's enough time until I find a safe place…"

Wait a moment.

That sounded awfully familiar.

"I said…The same thing inside my dream…", her eyes widened.

"There's no safe place in this world… At least, not for you!"

She turned, already knowing what to expect.

He caught her bag, which made her stumble backwards.

'I'm going to die like in the dream?!'

'The future memory can be changed with your actions'

'T-That's right! Remember what Black said!', she breathed dropping the bag and running back to the lighthouse.

She was going to pick the other path, it was her only chance!

"Grr… Come back!", Satsuki fumed throwing the back on the floor and running after her.

"I need to run in the normal way… There's no time to use the railing!"

-00-

"It's so dark… What happened?", said Natsuki, blinking a few times while he looked around.

He remembered running through the bridge… The storm… When Haruka opened the cage and touched the star ornament…

…And memories… Bad memories that he didn't want to remember.

"Yes… I saw them and…"

…And what? What happened?

"I can't… Remember", he shook his head, "Satsuki? Hey Satsuki?"

Silence.

It was strange, if he was inside them that meant that Satsuki must be outside, but he didn't answer his call.

"That's strange, he always answer when I call him", he furrowed his brows, "Well, let's try to go outside… Eh?"

He tried to materialize outside to see what was going on, but without success.

"What's… Happening?"

-00-

"What you did do your monster?!"

"Hey, It's kind of my fault, but I didn't pull a trick or anything", replied Black looking at the scene, "It's… Because of the boy's curse"

"His curse?"

"Yes… He will protect his host no matter what, he will protect him from what hurt him… And Haruka accidentally hurt him revealing the memory that was painful"

"… What's going to happen?"

"Honestly?", he sighed heavily, "I don't know"

-00-

"My body feels… Heavy… And the storm didn't stop…", she gasped, running as fast as she could, but stumbling and falling hard on the floor.

She looked behind, to check if she was still being followed, discovering, to her shock and dismay that Satsuki was, indeed, running in her direction.

"B-But how?!", she gasped looking in front of her.

She found the answer.

The path was crumbling in the other extreme of the bridge.

"This path is only meant to go not to return… Like you"

Haruka froze on the spot and looked back again, seeing Satsuki approaching rapidly.

"I need… To return… It's dangerous… For both of us…"

She leaned on the railing, her legs shaking weakly.

"Pff… How pitiful… You don't even have the strength to run anymore right?"

'He's approaching, I need…'

"Let's end this… Shall we?", he whispered slowly putting his hand around her neck.

But she slapped it away.

"What?"

"I still have strength to fight back!", she said, shoving him and running again.

"You worthless scum!", he cursed trying to take a step only to have his feet stuck in the place, "Tch, a false tile huh? Do you think it will stop me?"

He was right, she was very exhausted and didn't have energy left, but if there was something that she knew about herself that even fake memories wouldn't change is the fact that she never gave up!

She was almost there… She could see the end of the bridge!

"You made me very pissed off…", there was a noise as she felt something hit her in the back, making her fall hard on the floor, "When I'm very mad I am faster and stronger you see?"

"W-Wha…", she coughed, but before she could react properly she felt being pulled from the ground and being throw with force, hitting the railing in the process.

"There's no escape now… You will die here!", he said with a mad face as he started to strangle her.

"N-No…", she struggled, trying to kick, but without effect.

"It's useless… Just give up"

Her heart beat painfully on her chest, she felt dizzy and her vision blurred, turning her head weakly, she saw how the destruction of the bridge started to approach them in a fast pace.

…And they were still on it.

'I need to do something… Anything!'

"Sat…Ah…Tsu…", her hand shook as she tried to lift it.

"Sorry, but I can't hear you"

"Satsuki…", she finally managed to say, putting her hand on his, and closing on it as tears fell from her eyes.

There was a glint in his eyes and it looked as if the color turned back to the normal, the pressure on her neck stopping as he looked at her in confusion.

There was no time to lose, she kicked the bad to the other side and shoved him with all the strength that she still had, which made him stumble backwards until he fell safely on the floor.

"Haruka!", he managed to gasp, when she stepped backwards, still feeling dizzy as the ground around her collapsed, making her fall in the violent river.

'The dream… The memory of the future… It happened', she thought, as her body hit the water, feeling pulled by the strong current.

She felt too weak… The cold water made her limbs stop working even when if she attempted to swim… And trying to stay on the surface was more and more difficult.

"Haruka!", Satsuki screamed when he saw how the girl flailed helpless in the water, "Dammit! I need to rescue her!"

But his body froze.

"What?", he shouted angrily, "Why my body isn't moving?!"

"Why can't he move?"

"Because of his curse and wish…", Black answered, closing his eyes, "…He wished for someone that would never betray him… And that was granted, Satsuki can't do anything that may put Natsuki is risk… Even if both wishes for that"

"Haruka! Haruka!", he called her, letting frustrated noises.

Haruka swam as best as she could, trying to stay alive and strong even when she hit a big rock, holding the harsh surface, which made her finger bleed.

But still, that made him hopeful.

"Haruka! Hang in there, I'm coming!", he sighed, struggling to move, "Dammit, stupid body! Move!"

"S-Satsuki…", she smiled weakly in a way that said that everything would be fine, before her finger slip and her body disappeared in the dark water.

"Haruka… HARUKA!"

His body could move again, but he felt so weak that it didn't matter, he could only look in shock in the spot where she disappeared.

Why… Why that happened?

He fell down on his knees, horrified.

He remembered feeling the distress of his host, so he tried to go outside to check what happened, but didn't remember anything else besides that… Just… Her falling in front of him… In the cold water…

No… There's something else…

His hands… Were on her neck… And… He was pressing them…

"D-Did I… Kill her?"

No… He didn't want that! He didn't want to kill her, he wanted to protect her! Why that happened? Why? Why?!

His body dropped on the cold floor, he didn't want to think anymore, he just wanted to be inside the darkest corner of his mind and be forgotten there…

Yes… In a dark place where he hopefully wouldn't feel anything.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000000000-**

…**That's it, I broke Satsuki before Natsuki and Natsuki doesn't know what happened.**

**I'm not going to comment anything, just that I'm just waiting to see your baffled reactions heh… Well, how's going to rescue the rest of the guys now huh? What will happen?**

…

**Review Time.**

**GlamGurl17**- Nope, it isn't alive as Haruka took the key inside it(or Satsuki, he threw the bicycle after all)

Oh, BTW, your fears turned into for guessing right!

**Brandnewmelody-** When I said "Designated partner" I was talking about the guys that she teamwork with on the respective world, like Kaoru/Her or Satsuki-Natsuki/Her

^This chapter was what I planned, and yes, I will write the Kaoru/Syo's gaiden soon!


	16. Chapter 16

There was something wrong, he could feel it.

Satsuki went outside and wasn't answering his pleas and he couldn't see what was happening.

Now he felt a wave of intense distress coming from the other and also that he returned.

The biggest problem was that he couldn't tell where he was.

"Satsuki?", Natsuki called again, receiving no answer, "Where are you? What happened?"

Another wave of distress…

And guilty?

'What happened to make him act like that?', Natsuki thought with worry.

It would be better if he tried to return outside and check.

-00-

"Atcho!", he sneezed.

He trembled, holding himself as he went inside the building where he found the star ornament to avoid the rain.

"Why it's so cold here?", he asked himself, looking at the empty space where should be the star, his eyes widening.

Haruka.

Where was Haruka?

"Haru-chan?", he called, looking around but being only greeted with total silence, "Where are you?"

He looked outside, but there wasn't any sign of the girl.

"Huh? What's that?", he squinted seeing a small thing on the floor.

He approached the object, picking it and looking inside.

It was Haruka's bag.

"W-Why it's on the floor in the middle of the rain?", his body trembled slight and he looked to the side, noticing the lack of bridge, "…And where's the bridge? I'm pretty sure that it was here when we crossed it!"

'It's my fault…'

"Satsuki?", he blinked.

'…'

"Did I hear Satsuki's voice right now?"

"Young boy", a soft voice whispered.

"Huh? Who's that?", he looked around, seeing no one.

Why that voice sounded familiar?

"You need answers right?"

"Yes, can you answer them?"

"… I can, but… You need to return and rest first"

"I don't need to rest! I need to find Haruka!"

"You won't be able to find her"

"What do you mean?", he asked, even if deep inside he knew what the answer was, but he didn't want to admit it.

"She's on the bottom of the river", the voice answered with hesitation.

"She's dead"

Dead… The word echoed in his mind a few times, but he couldn't process it.

"What?", he mumbled when he felt something warm on his cheek.

He was crying.

His body trembled when the realization hit him, falling on his knees in shock as he looked at the bag in his hands with hollow eyes.

"Please don't fall in despair"

"How I cannot?", he replied, his voice shaky, "It hurts… So much…"

"I know"

"…"

"I know how it feels to lose someone you love"

"…Are you… The "Purple" that appear on the tale?"

"Yes", replied the voice, "But it isn't time to talk about that, you must return to your home and rest, I will meet you there"

"… I don't want to", he shook his head, "I don't have the strength to even lift my feet"

"But you need to", the female voice said, "You must live or else, the chance of seeing the girl will be lost forever"

"What are you…"

"Return and rest, I will explain later"

"…"

-00-

He felt empty when he opened the door to the apartment, the building looking too silent and lifeless for his liking.

It wasn't the first time he met someone and then left, but he would never get used to the feeling, and Haruka was different, as no one was as close as she was with both him and Satsuki.

"It's hard to sleep… There's no warm", he mumbled putting other clothes and wrapping himself with his blanket, trying to ignore the blatant empty space where Haruka used to be.

"I will be always here, even if you can't see me"

He didn't know if it was her voice or just a memory, so he closed his eyes, imagining her gentle smile and soft touch as he feel in a deep slumber.

Everything was white… And there was a lilac dawn on the horizon.

"Hello… Natsuki", greeted the woman.

"You are… The same lady I saw once in my dream"

"Yes", she nodded.

"…Can you explain how… How she… Haru-chan…"

His couldn't say it, it still made his chest ache.

"I understand", the lady nodded with a sad smile, "The star keys hold the memories that are painful to you, so when the girl activated it, the star showed your painful memory"

"… I remember", he whispered looking down for a second, "But… What it has to do with what happened?"

"Everything", the woman answered, looking uncomfortable, "… Do you remember what was the wish you made?"

"I wished for someone that would never betray me"

"Yes", she nodded, "Satsuki was born solely to protect you, so… If you were ever harmed he would destroy the source of your sadness"

"But Haruka never harmed me!"

"She unlocked a hurtful memory, that's why he tried to… Kill her"

"It doesn't make any sense! Satsuki likes her as much as me! He wouldn't do something like that!"

"It' not an option to him, he must try to kill her"

"…Try?"

"…He almost succeed, but the girl's voice reached him", Purple said, but by her expression he could tell that it didn't well, "… It was too late, she only had the time to push him as the bridge collapsed and she fell on the water"

"She fell… I was… Still on the bridge, didn't Satsuki try to rescue her?"

"He couldn't"

"…Why?"

"Because of your wish, because you wanted someone who would never betray you", the lady answered, with a sorrowful voice, "He can't do anything that may harm you, he could only watch as the girl drowned"

'So that explain why didn't receive any answer and why I felt his distress'

"…"

"Boy, do you remember the last time we saw each other?"

"Ah…I… Sorry, I can't think of anything right now"

"I understand", she said with a soft tone, "I gave you an amethyst"

"You mentioned that it was a wish right?"

"Yes, it can grant you a wish with the right payment"

"Then…", his eyes shone with hope, "Can I revive her? Can I… See Haruka again?"

"Yes and…No"

"Huh? I don't understand?"

The Purple lady closed her eyes for a moment, before letting a long sigh.

"Like I said last time I… Am not powerful enough", she explained, "Only White and Black can make someone live to their fullest, I… Even with all of my power I can only make someone live again for 12 days"

"12 days…"

"Yes"

"…"

"It's a hard decision, so I will let you ponder for a while"

"…Can I ask something?"

"Yes?"

"Do you… Know if Haruka's still here?"

"…Yes", she gave him a weak smile, but fond smile, "You may not see her but… She's always at your side, even if you can't see or feel her"

"I see…"

"You aren't alone"

-00-

He stared the ceiling for a while, trying to process everything he discovered.

Haruka was dead, Satsuki tried to kill her, but he failed and Haruka saved them by shoving Satsuki when the bridge collapsed.

"Haru-chan… ", he closed his eyes, "… I'm sorry… Satsuki and I didn't mean to do that… Please… Forgive us… I…"

He felt guilty, even if he didn't push her in a way he was responsible, it was his wish that…

"… It's better if I talk with Satsuki first" he closed his eyes.

It was dark… As always, but it was ok, he was used to wander in the dark place, so it shouldn't be difficult to find his other self.

… But then again, Satsuki was concealing himself.

"Satsuki?", he called, "It's me Natsuki, could you please show yourself?"

"…"

"… I talked with Purple, she… Told me what happened…"

Distress… Guilty…

"… I don't hate you", he continued, "It's my fault too… If I didn't make that wish she wouldn't have died and you wouldn't suffer for that"

"…"

"I feel guilty for being responsible for that", he said, "But… If I didn't make this wish you wouldn't exist and I would never meet her, even with everything I suffered I think it was worth the pain if it meant that I could know someone as wonderful as her!"

Satsuki revealed himself, he sat there, motionless, looking like a broken doll.

"I killed her", he whispered without looking back, "I… Remember… My hands were around her neck… I tried to kill her"

"You didn't kill her"

"But it was my fault", he angrily replied, "I saw how she fell on the water and I saw how she told me that everything would be alright while she drowned and I couldn't move a muscle!"

He was crying, angry tears leaking from his eyes.

He wanted so badly to hurt and punish himself for hurting her… While every second he thought about his well being… But he couldn't! Because of his curse he couldn't even do that! It wasn't fair! Why he was unhurt while he killed her? Why? WHY?!

"And she didn't hate me… Not even for a second", he said, finally staring at his eyes, "It would be better if she just thought of me as a monster and hated me"

"She can't do that", Natsuki smiled even if he was crying too, "And I don't think neither of us would be able to live if she hated us"

"She's too forgiving"

"Yes… But we both fell in love with her because of that right?", he smiled fondly.

"…Sort of"

"… Hey, Satsuki", his smile dropped as he took the amethyst, putting in front of the other.

"What is this?"

"It's a 'wish'", he said, "The Purple Lady gave it to me"

"A wish?"

"Yes, it can revive Haru-chan again but… Only for 12 days", he explained.

"Why are you telling me that?"

"I want to know if you want to make the wish"

"… No"

Natsuki stayed in silence, but he seemed to understand, and it wasn't because they shared a heart, but because their feelings about the golden eyed girl were the same.

"…I don't think 12 days are enough and I wouldn't be able to bear seeing her out of my grasp again!"

"So you feel the same…"

He sat next to him.

"Satsuki, I think we should continue"

"? Why do you want to continue, she isn't here anymore"

"Yes, it's true, but…", he trailed of looking at the amethyst in his hands with interest, "She taught me something: Loving someone means that you will be hurt, even if no one wants to hurt the other"

"…"

"But in the end it's worth it", he smiled, even if it was a crooked smile, "I am happy, and being able to feel that is more important than to stay closed and not feel anything at all"

"You sure grew stronger", he snorted, "It seems that in the end, you're the stronger one"

"No… I'm not", he shook his head, "It's just some hours but I miss her so much… I miss her warm, her smile and her voice… It's taking all of my willpower to not use the wish as I know I won't stand to lose her again"

"Heh, I know, I want, but at the same time I don't"

"Yes, besides… She will need this wish more than we need it"

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when she told us that she wanted to save someone?", he said.

"Are you… Going to wish for this person to be saved?"

"No", he shook his head, "I want beat this place and use this wish to revive her so she could try and free this person"

"Why? You don't even know this person"

"Because it's thanks to him or her that Haru-chan got to live and meet us", Natsuki replied closing his hand, "… I know what Haru-chan truly desires so I want to grant her wish"

"Her wish…"

"Yes", he smiled brightly, "A Happy Ending for everyone"

"A happy ending huh? Is that even possible in this cursed place?"

"If it's Haru-chan I know it's possible", he said again, "Besides… I think it may work in the end"

It was a tiny chance and maybe having hope would be useless in the end but… It was still a chance.

'I don't know who you are, unknown person who made this wish, but… I will trust in you, please, save Haru-chan when it's your turn'

-00-

"Natsuki-kun… I'm proud of you", Haruka smiled, resting a hand in the blond's head, even if she couldn't touch him.

"So… You're staying?"

"Mister Black?"

"You know, you don't need to be stuck here, you can go to the other side, I bet heaven will welcome you with open arms"

"… Thanks for the offer but I need to stay"

"Why? There isn't anything else you can do"

"Yes, there's a chance", she smiled, "…Mister Black, there's something I wanted to ask you"

"Oh… What is?"

"My curse… About the fake memories… They aren't false at all right?"

"What did make you think that?"

"Because they were future memories that could be changed", she replied, "More or less like Kaoru's power, but I can choose if I want to make them happen"

"Huhuh, you got sharper after all of these challenges", Black smiled, "So… What can you see?"

"Nothing", she shook her head, but smiled, "It depends on Natsuki's wish and I believe him"

"It can take a while", Black replied adjusting his hat, "I mean, even if he has the resolution it would still take a bit of time until he can properly recover from your death"

"It's ok, I will wait here as long as he need me"

"You are aware that he isn't able to feel or see you right?"

"He may not see me and may not feel my touch, but I'm sure that he will now in his heart that I will never abandon him"

"Hehe… I see… It doesn't matter what I say, you will be firm on your decision", he smiled, "…You know, he's right, you can make anyone feel happy, It's like a miracle"

"Black…"

"Miss Haruka…", he bowed, taking her hand an brushing his lips softly on her skin, "I hope you can make it, for everyone's sake"

"… I will", she smiled, "…And for your sake too"

"Hehe, Please don't make me fall in love with you, I don't deserve it", Black said distancing himself, "…But I'm selfish and unfair so… I hope to at least hear you calling me by my true name someday"

Until then, it's a goodbye.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**FULL Natsuki and Satsuki centric, even if they sorted things out it will take a while and they need to rest and recover themselves.**

**The other star pieces hold their challenges and also a set of painful memories, so they need to prepare themselves mentally because… Oh boy, next star key will shaken him up!(again)**

…

**Review Time!**

**GlamGurl17**- Nope, she did die, as this chapter confirms, Natsuki will do this solo(I don't think Satsuki can help him a lot because it's more of a psychological trial)

HAHAHAHAH! Hey, didn't you say that you liked KaoruxHaruka? XD, Pff….

OH! By the way, I made a new story called "Gaiden: Contract Fulfillment" it's the other side/part of this fic and deals with what happens to the ones that have their wishes granted, Kaoru and Syo appear there!

**Brandnewmelody**- I wanted to see this reaction! Yep, Kaoru and Syo! Dun Dun~ Going to discover or raise more questions about this messed up fic!


	17. Chapter 17

It was pretty easy to wake up as there wasn't any warm there to make things cozy.

He stared sadly at the empty spot besides him, folding the covers neatly while he put a coat and picked the Haruka's bag, the key's and the amethyst tome.

"It feels so weird and cold here…"

'Natsuki, it's better if you eat something before we go out'

"I don't feel like eating anything", he let a chuckle, even if it was forced, "…It's better if we hurry up and go to the next key"

'…'

Satsuki couldn't blame the haste of the other, even thought Natsuki handled the loss better than him he knew that both were still shaken up and missing the girl.

It was like a drug, they both were so used to feel her presence and her gentle smile everyday that they took it for granted, and now that they couldn't see her it made their hearts feel hollow and empty, with each second without her being a torture.

'We both agreed to only make the wish when we escape, but…', Satsuki thought looking at the purple jewel.

Would they able to let her go after being able to see her again? Even with the chance of not seeing her anymore or being able to enjoy their time with her?

"Hehe~It's nice that you too care for her Satsuki, but worrying so much won't be good for you"

'W-What?'

"I can feel your distress", Natsuki replied while he put the key on the place and followed the light, "I could barely sleep thinking about that."

'…'

"When we meet again the time will be too short to tell all the things we want to", he hummed looking down, "I wish I could thanks her and tell everything in this short time, but I can't think of anything"

'Huh… So you too…'

"Yes", he nodded, "That's why I want you to think about it"

-00-

Natsuki tensed when he arrived, seeing the gate of the cemetery.

He sure wasn't feeling 100 % ok after the events, and seeing a cemetery after losing the person he loved the most wasn't doing good things to the state of his mind.

'Natsuki…'

"Don't worry, I will be ok", he shook his head, "…I need to be strong or else we will never escape"

He took a deep breathe, looking determined.

"The light points to the lock… Maybe I need to use the key here?", he blinked, picking the key and turning it, which made a click and opened the gate, "Huh, it worked"

After they entered the place he felt a dreadful feeling, and the bad feeling only got worse after he saw the sign lying before the streets with graves.

**-The Star Pieces-**

**-There's a lot of stars on the sky, some turn into a shiny and beautiful shooting star-**

**-Find the fallen star to have your wish granted, a wish made with your heart-**

**-Would you be able to bear the pain? After all, a star died to grant your wish-**

'…I have a bad feeling and I don't think it's because of the place', said Satsuki restless.

"I know, I can sense it too", Natsuki nodded, "…Let's search for clues on this sign"

Well, it was a riddle as always but there were few things that were obvious about it.

The graves were the key to find the star piece.

"…With my heart… There must be about something important to me and painful at the same time", Natsuki closed his eyes.

'…'

"Let's look around".

They cemetery was huge, and it would take a while until the checked all the graves there, but that's it. It didn't have any danger lurking around and somehow it made everything more unsettling.

"…There's nothing on this grave", Natsuki sighed in relief after he checked the last tombstone of the first line.

'Why are you so worried?'

"… I don't know, I kind of fear seeing something written here", he replied, moving to the next tombstone.

… Or a name, but he didn't want to think about that.

'I don't think checking one tombstone at the time will get you any closer to find the damn key, it must have a way to identify the correct gravestone!', Satsuki said with an annoyed tone.

He wasn't annoyed, but the horrible, tense and fearful feeling coming from Natsuki was affecting him hard and his own feelings were too, still in a mess.

"You're right, it's better if I focus and end this", he sighed, looking around.

He stopped looking the gravestone in front of him and decided to scrutinize everything around him.

He blinked when he saw something colorful.

He quickly jogged to the source and saw a neat vase lying in front of a gravestone, a lonely rose in it.

It passed a few seconds before he had the courage to look the tombstone.

Nothing.

He sighed in relief and picked the red rose.

… But as soon as he did that red letters started to form in the stone, and he couldn't help, but stare, his eyes widening.

-Shizo Mikani-

There was red flash and he suddenly saw himself in the middle of the street, seeing a girl with brown hair walking to one of the door, the purple book in her hands.

He remembered her, it was the first person he met in that silent place, he didn't talk a lot with her the first time they met, as she was a very wary and reserved person, but at least he considered her as a friend.

"Now… I need to find one more object…", the girl mumbled.

Natsuki followed her, and saw the moment that a doppelganger of the girl waited in front of a mirror, smirking.

The girl looked very wary while she stood in front of the mirror, and he also approached her, staring her reflection.

…And suddenly, she was shoved inside it, letting a loud scream as her doppelganger crackled.

The image faded away as the rose in his hand turned into a piece of a star.

"…So she didn't escape… She died here", Natsuki mumbled as tears started to fall, "…Even if I didn't knew her for too long… She was… The first person I met here."

'…Are you ok?', Satsuki asked, with an unsure voice.

"… I will be", he took his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "I just… Need a few minutes"

Satsuki nodded and waited in silence.

He didn't suffer from the same pain as the other because he never got closer to anyone, but he knew how easily Natsuki could be attached to people so he respected his feelings.

"… Let's search for another flower"

The next flower was a white carnation, taking a few breathes and trying to stop his shaking hand, Natsuki picked the flower on the vase as another name appeared.

-Reginald Fiore-

There was another flashback, but this one was very short, it was a blond boy that went outside at night, when the "thing" was still lurking around, being murdered and ripped apart in a very brutal way, which made Natsuki close his eyes.

He remembered the little boy, it was the first friend he made that had the same age as him and they always played some games, their favorite place being the toy store.

He always alerted about the danger of going outside at night hours, but his friend didn't seem to fear that. And one day, when he was still too full of energy to sleep, he went outside to play and never returned.

"…"

'Natsuki', Satsuki called now feeling strong waves of distress, 'Let me check these gravestone in your place, I won't be affected as you'

"…Ok"

They switched places, and after picking the star piece, Satsuki walked around until he spotted a vase with a daisy inside.

He picked the flower, but no name appeared and the flower didn't change.

"…You got to be kidding me", Satsuki cursed.

-The test star with one and must end with one-

'What's happening Satsuki?'

"… It seems that the test is specific tailored for the first person to pick the first flower… Or maybe even who entered this place", he answered with a bit of reluctance.

'…I see'

"…"

'It's ok, I will continue'

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

They switched personalities again, and as soon as Natsuki was outside the flower in his hand started to glow.

-Klaus Amore-

"Klaus-nii", Natsuki whispered.

He remembered the older red head that used glasses, he was like an overprotective mom, always telling about how wonderful his family once was and that how it felt apart the day an accident happened and how guilty he felt for being the only survivor.

He was in the same cemetery that he was right now, crouched down in front of a grave.

"Why did you survive? Aren't we a perfect family?", a voice floated around the red haired man.

"Forgive me… I'm sorry", his body trembled as he muttered a apologize.

"We were always proud of you being a good son… Why did you abandon your own family?"

"I-I didn't mean to survive… I'm sorry"

"Nii-chan, let's go together, you don't need to suffer anymore", said a childish voice as a little boy took form smiling to the other.

"Yes…", the tearful man smiled.

"Hey Klaus-nii don't do that!", Natsuki tried to call, but to no avail as that was only a memory from another death.

As soon as the man touched the little boy's hand he fell on the floor with a thud, lifeless eyes staring the nothing.

The star key fell from his grasp.

"… Is that the final test?", Natsuki muttered, staring the star piece in his hand and noticing, with a horrible realization that it was almost complete.

'Natsuki, what you saw?'

"Do you remember Klaus-nii?"

'Yes, I do, guy that acted like a worried mom right?'

"… He was here before", Natsuki took a deep breath, "He died on the final test"

'Huh, you did well by yourself Natsuki', Satsuki replied, 'I don't think the final test will be so hard'

"No", he shook his head, "This may be the most difficult test, the loved ones that died… To resist their call even if we miss them so much… Will we be able to do that?"

'…'

"…I'm scared", his body trembled, "After if she call us?"

'…'

Natsuki squirmed feeling a bit uncomfortable, staring the floor as he knew that if he looked elsewhere he would see another flower and he wouldn't resist the temptation to check it.

He knew that before the final test, "she" would appear.

'…Let's go Natsuki', Satsuki said after a long silence.

"Will you be ok?", he whispered, "…After all, you saw when she died"

'No, I won't be ok', was the reply, 'But I feel like we must do it'

"…Ok"

It took a lot of effort to look around, and seeing a big sunflower on the distance made his heart ache again.

His steps were small and slow, and when he arrived he felt very afraid to touch the flower, the very sight of it making he shake.

'I can't do it', Natsuki closed his eyes, with his heart thumping loudly on his chest.

"Don't worry, I will be here", a soft voice whispered, even if she couldn't be heard, "Until the end"

He felt at peace, a familiar sensation involving him.

"Haru-chan, are you here?", he whispered, opening his eyes and seeing no one.

He couldn't see or feel her warm, but somehow, he could sense her presence.

…Or maybe it was his wistful wish, he didn't know anymore.

'I can sense her too, it isn't your imagination', Satsuki said feeling clearly uncomfortable.

Natsuki nodded and reached for the sunflower, gripping the stem and slowly taking it out of the vase.

…As he feared, her name appeared on the gravestone.

-Haruka Nanami-

He saw himself and her on the bridge, in that dreadful storm as both entered the place, hugging themselves as they both tried to warm they soaked bodies.

He felt a single tear fall from his face.

She looked so real right now that he couldn't help but reach to her, only for his hand to pass through the illusion.

"Haru-chan…", he whispered, retreating his hand, gripping the sunflower in his hand.

The moment the memory got unlocked… He always wondered what happened, but now that he saw it, he regretted deeply.

Satsuki started to squirm, but he made his best to stare at the scene that he was seeing.

His eyes carried madness and a will to kill, he saw how he chased her and saw fear in her face as she stumbled and run outside, he saw how he hurt her and made her fall, and also the moment that he caught her and his hands gripped her neck as she started to struggle to free herself.

'…I can't… I don't want to see it!', Satsuki voice whispered madly inside his mind.

Natsuki couldn't bear to look either, even if he wasn't there in the moment everything happened he still felt as if he killed her.

But still, there was something that told him that he should look until the bitter end.

Her eyes… She stared to the side as she let a gasp.

He also stared the direction that she was looking and noticed that the bridge started to collapse; looking back to her he felt his heart warm as he saw only worried eyes.

She was worried about them, even if they tried to kill her, the only thing in her mind was that they were in danger.

"Sat…Ah…Tsu", she struggled to mumble.

"Satsuki, please, look", whispered Natsuki.

The other reacted.

"Sorry but I can't hear you"

"Satsuki…", the voice whispered, tears leaking from her eyes.

Finally her voice reached them… Past and Present, and they saw how the past Satsuki blinked, easing his grip and looking confused.

They also saw how the ground around them started to crumble, and also when she kicked the bag and shoved him with all her strength as she fell on the river, and the confused and pained cries from their voices as they tried to grip her hand, catching only air.

They could only stand there, helpless as she gave them the same warm smile that told that everything would be alright as she slipped and her body disappeared on the river.

"Please… No more, no more…", he fell on the ground, the almost complete star falling from his hand.

He felt horrible and sick, sick because he hurt her, horrible because he saw her die before his eyes without being able to save her.

'I can't stand this anymore… Please use the wish you received', Satsuki whispered in a shaken voice, 'Save her'

Natsuki shakily took the small amethyst in his hands, looking at the beautiful stone in his hand.

He hesitated.

'What are you waiting for? Hurry up!'

"But…"

Her face flashed in his mind again, those deeply, concerned eyes that cared for him until the very end.

"No… That would be selfish", Natsuki shook his head, closing his hand.

'Does it matter? Natsuki, I can't stand it! And you're barely holding yourself'

"…Didn't you see her face Satsuki?"

'…?'

"When the bridge was collapsing around us… Or when she shot us a last look", he gripped the bag, his heart racing, "The only thing in her mind was us and our safety, we can't be so selfish after she sacrificed everything"

'She wouldn't blame us'

"She won't, but I would", he answered as tears leaked from his eyes as he put the amethyst back in the bag, "I would feel guilty and that wouldn't result on anything, after 12 days she would disappear from our reach and we wouldn't be able to do anything again"

'…'

"There's a small chance of meeting her again… And I want to bet on that", he continued, "For her happiness"

'…Fine', Satsuki sighed with a defeated voice, "…Sorry for that outburst"

"It's ok", he managed to let a broken laugh, "After all, we love her right?"

"…Right"

"Over here…"

"Follow us…"

'Is that… Voices?', Satsuki whispered.

"Yes", he nodded, "It's the final test"

He walked in firm steps, following the shadows and the voices until he stopped in front of a mausoleum.

"Hey, Natsuki, you got this far huh?"

"Mikani-san…"

"Whoa, you grew a lot!"

"Fiore…"

"Natsuki, I'm really happy to meet my family again"

"Klaus-nii"

"You suffered a lot", said a familiar voice as she smiled kindly at him, "There's no need to be alone anymore"

"…Haru-chan"

"Hey Natsuki, I know that we were together a lot, but don 't you want to go with us?", said Mikani crouching down, "This place sure is scary"

"Hey, let's play again Natsuki!", Fiore grinned offering a hand, "I promise this time I will a good boy and stay with you!"

"…Don't you want to be with your loved ones?", Klaus offered his hand, "I know how much it hurts… And the guilty… Join us and suffer no more"

"Natsuki… Satsuki… I promised you that I would always be with you right? Here, let me hug you", she reached for him.

But he stepped down.

"What's wrong?", the spirit asked, "Didn't you want to see me?"

"…More than anything", he replied not looking at her.

"Then why you won't let me comfort you?", the spirit asked, the voice sounding sad, "Do you… Hate me?"

"No, I don't, but I know that if I let you touch me everything will end"

"Oh… I see… You will let me fade away again", the voice said.

"No… I…!"

"Why do you want me to pass through so much suffering?", the spirit said with an accusing tone, "You don't know how much I suffered before I met you, and how much I will suffer on the future, being constantly exposed to dangers"

"…"

"…And in the end I can die again, out of your reach"

"I know that… It's a small chance but… I want to bet on it", his voice was shaking.

"Huh, you won't be there to help me", the voice said in a whisper, "I need to help others and maybe… I will fall in love with one of them"

'Natsuki, don't listen to her! It's only an illusion'

"I may not be the real deal Satsuki", the voice said, her voice slight different, her eyes with a faint shade of purple, "But everything I'm saying is true"

'…'

"You are…", Natsuki blinked.

"Living for only 12 days… Fighting against dangers and fear… And also the possibility of her falling in love in the process", the spirit continued, "Are you really able to go through it even with this possibility? It wouldn't be easier to give up? You two can be together forever if you die"

"…That may be true, but I wouldn't do that", Natsuki replied, aware that the one in front of him wasn't the fake illusions or the real Haruka, but the Purple lady.

"And… Why is that?", the purple lady asked, "Don't you love her? Don't you fear losing her?"

"I love her and nothing will change that", he replied, "If she loves someone else then so be it, that isn't the important part"

"…And what should be this important part?"

"Her happiness", he replied, "I know that she will meet a lot of obstacles but she's a strong girl and won't give up until she saved everyone… She can attract everyone with her kindness, so I don't doubt that other will try to protect her"

"I see…", the lady smiled.

"I trust her decision", he smiled, "Even if it pains me I know that she made the right choice for her"

"… Thanks"

"Hum?"

"I never knew what to do because I didn't want to hurt my friends but… Now, thanks to you and Haruka I finally can make my choice"

"What are you talking about?"

"I will be waiting for you, good luck!", the voice faded, as well as the other spirits.

In their place was only the star key, complete and shining bright.

He gently picked the key and closed his hand around it.

"I'm proud of you", a gentle voice whispered.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000-**

**This chapter was short, but that can't be helped.**

**Next chapter, he will solve the last puzzles and then chapter 19 will be the end of Natsuki/Satsuki's path, dun dun~ O3O**

**Anyone(that isn't BrandNewMelody because I spoiled her) want to guess who's going to be on the next path? XD**

**Ah! Just curious, are you guys changing preferences to which guy she wants to end or you are still faithful to one pairing? XD, Asking out of curiosity because I already know who will be the one to end with her**

…

**Review time!**

**GlamGurl17 –** Everyone that ends their paths will appear on the other fanfic, you can check my profile, it's called "Gaiden: Fulfillment of Contract", now you have more of Kaoru/Syo screentime ^^

Yep, she changed the way she would die, but was still killed, don't worry, we are almost at the end of Natsuki/Satsuki path and the goodbye will be sweet!

Ah, I won't use Quartet Night and Heavens, I am even skipping one of the STARISH guys because I don't want this fic to drag for too long and become half-assed, we have paths for the colors mentioned on the tales, them being Black, Blue, Dark Blue, Red, Purple and White, 6 total.

**Brandnewmelody**- Why yes, you doubted that I would do it considering how dark this fic is? HAHAHA, your reaction is priceless, and did I tear your heart with this chapter? Did I? Did I? *Headshot*


	18. Chapter 18

"Just two more star keys and we will see Haru-chan soon", said Natsuki standing up.

'Natsuki, it's better if you eat this time, we can't afford being weak'

"Uhum, you're right", Natsuki nodded, "I will pick leftovers that Haru-chan cooked"

He heated the food and ate in silence, while he stared the ornaments and the last keys.

"These keys are associated with me", Natsuki gulped the last piece of food, "… I don't doubt that the last two will also have something to do with it as well"

'…In this case, let me out, so I can help you'

"Ok", he nodded putting the dishes on the sink and picking the key placing it on the book and waiting until he saw the light shining again.

-00-

"The museum huh?", Satsuki looked at the big building, and took a step inside.

The key started to react when he got closer to the T-Rex, which made a hole appear on the middle of the head.

Picking the key out of the book, Satsuki inserted the key as a dark light shone from it.

"Heh, don't tell me… I need to defeat a skeleton T-Rex?", smirked Satsuki.

But it didn't seem necessary, the skeletons started to crumble and got sucked into the purple light, which made a big and white box appear, probably made of bones.

"What is this?", Satsuki arched an eyebrow, "Hum… It has a hole with the format of a star"

He opened the box and a purple light blinded him.

-00-

"Where am I?", Satsuki blinked when he saw that it was morning and he saw that he was in the middle of the park.

The box was open and it had a smaller box inside with a scroll.

**-Your objective is to find a blond boy of 12 years that wears two barrettes and give this box to him-**

**-Beware! You have a time limit, you can check this scroll to see how much time you have-**

"…It's a game of hide-and-seek? Ugh…", Satsuki rolled his eyes, "Even with this description how am I supposed to find this boy?"

'We have a whole day to find it, we better hurry and ask around'

"I don't think this will help a lot", he cursed as he looked around, not seeing a soul in sight.

He wandered through the streets searching for anyone, but there was just few people walking around and everytime Satsuki tried to approach them his menacing face would make them run like the wind.

"…", Satsuki glared as another person fled.

'… Hum… Satsuki, let's switch', said Natsuki after a while, 'I think you're scaring everyone'

"…"

They switched places and Natsuki took the small box from his bag, thinking that it may have a clue.

The orb on the upper part had a faint glow.

"Hey Satsuki, did you notice the glow?"

'I didn't check', the other answered, 'Besides, it's too faint for me to see it'

"Hum… Maybe…"

He started to run back to the park, staring the box the whole time and noticing how the light faded away.

"Hum… I think that this box can be used to find the person we are supposed to give it", Natsuki commented, "No wonder you didn't notice the glow before, it wasn't glowing!"

'So we just need to find the glow huh?', Satsuki snorted, 'Here, let's switch again'

"Hum… Isn't it better if I stay like this?", Natsuki wondered, "After all it tire us both switching like that"

'It's ok', Satsuki replied furrowing his brows, 'Besides, I have a bad feeling about this box'

"Sure, if you say so…"

They switched again. Satsuki, held the box and started to run as fast as he could, being sure to pay attention when the glow got stronger or weaker with each step.

'It's shining brightly now!', Natsuki commented.

"Yeah, it's hurting my eyes", Satsuki mumbled, "I think we're almost there… Strange, I'm not sensing anyone nearby, are you sure that it shows the way?"

-SCREECH!-

"What the…?", Satsuki blinked before he noticed that a car was coming in his way, "Dammit! I need to move… What?"

His body wasn't moving.

"This must be the effect of this box!", he cursed, trying to drop the object but discovering that it was stuck on his hand, "…You got to be kidding me"

'Satsuki, what's happening?'

"Nothing, don't worry", he narrowed his eyes, looking at the car that was much closer now.

'If you think you're going to kill me you're wrong!'

He put the box in front of him when the car hit him, crossing his arms and waiting for the impact.

-00-

"… Where am I?", Satsuki mumbled, opening his eyes and staring at the white ceiling.

"You're hit by a car and the driver ran away", answered a voice, "You're lucky that I was walking around in this unholy hour"

Satsuki looked to the side and stared at the young boy with blond hair and blue eyes.

'…Hey, isn't he…?'

'He isn't wearing any barrettes', Satsuki replied staring his hands, noticing that the box was missing so he looked around until he saw the bag on a chair, '…And the cursed box isn't glowing either'

"You know, you're pretty sturdy to survive a hit like that", the boy commented with a wonder, "Why were you in the middle of the street?"

"I couldn't move", Satsuki replied standing up.

'Let's ask him if he wears barrettes'

"…What's your age?"

"Huh? What a strange question", the boy replied, arching an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you be asking my name?"

"Just answer it"

"12 years old"

'Hey, maybe he's the person we are looking for!'

"…Say, do you wear barrettes?"

"What with these strange questions?", he looked puzzled, but shrugged, "No, I don't"

"…"

'Ah… So it isn't him'

"…Why are you asking?", he narrowed his eyes, "By some chance… Are you the responsible for making my older brother faint?"

"What?"

"He was holding two blue barrettes"

'Hum… Maybe his brother is the person we're looking for?'

"We don't have anything to do with that", Satsuki shrugged, looking serious, "I just asked because we were instructed to give a box to him"

"… It wouldn't be easier if you delivered it by mail?"

'Tell him that it's important, that's why you couldn't do that'

"…It's a fairly important stuff, I can't simply send it by mail"

"Fairly important… Why?"

"Look, stop wasting my time, and tell me already how we can find your brother", said Satsuki with impatience, "Each second we lose is precious and we need to rescue someone!"

"…What a box has to do with saving someone?"

"Urgh… Just trust me, it has everything to do with that", Satsuki replied picking the bag and looking at the contents, dropping a small blue book.

"? What is this?", the blond blinked while he took the small book, feeling that he saw it once.

-The Tale of Blue-

"The tale of blue…", he whispered, his eyes widening.

'Let's meet again!'

It was his voice… And it sounded older and he was talking with someone?

Who was this person?

"Haruka…", the boy mumbled, before he felt an awful headache, "Ugh!"

"Wait, don't faint!", Satsuki cursed, but the boy was already on the floor, unconscious, "Dammit!"

'…Is he ok?', asked Natsuki concerned.

"We don't have time for this!", he said in frustration, picking the scroll and staring mortified, "We wasted 7 hours being unconscious!"

'But he helped us', Natsuki replied, 'Besides, we will need him if we want to find the person we are looking for'

"Ugh…!", Satsuki cursed as he looked around, "Ah! There, it must be his bag, let's see if we can find anything"

Natsuki was going to comment that it wasn't a nice thing to do, but decided against it as he felt that it was necessary.

"Ah! Found a cell phone; let's see if we can contact his brother…"

"…"

"Urgh, he isn't picking up"

'Hum… Didn't this boy made a comment about how his brother found the barrettes and asked us if we did anything to him?', said Natsuki, '…Maybe he's here too?'

"I see… Let's check his wallet, maybe we can find his name"

'You should have asked his name first when he was awake', chuckled Natsuki.

"Shut up", Satsuki mumbled while he took the wallet, "Hum… Kaoru Kurosu"

'Nice! Now let's ask if there is any blond boy with the surname Kurosu!'

"Ah yes, and the doctors will be nice enough to tell a suspicious stranger and that's before we find this one fainted"

'Let's put him on the bed and we can switch', Natsuki replied, 'I think I can ask in your place, I guess I look harmless enough'

"Fine, but if I sense something off I will switch", Satsuki nodded.

They switched again, and Natsuki stumbled and feel on the bed.

'Natsuki, are you ok?'

"Y-Yes, I guess I'm not used to switch so much in a short time", he laughs, waiting for the dizziness to wear off so he could pick Kaoru and place him on the bed, "There, we are good to go!"

-Toc Toc-

'Crap!', Satsuki cursed, 'If anyone sees the boy that brought you here fainted they will surely think you did something!'

Natsuki nodded feeling a bit nervous and started to fidget as someone slowly opened the door.

It was the doctor, that didn't even looked fazed seeing the 12 years boy on the bed while the supposed patient was standing there looking suspicious.

"Er…"

"…Did he faint again?", the doctor sighed.

Wait, what?

"Hum… Sorry?", Natsuki replied with a dumbfounded expression.

"This child… Always fainting, even more than his brother", the doctor shook his head.

'So… It's normal for them? Well, lucky for us!'

'Satsuki, that's mean'

'Whatever, just ask him, we're wasting precious time!'

"Er… Doctor", called Natsuki, "You mentioned that his brother also faints a lot right?"

"Yes, which is strange as both are very healthy"

"Hum… I see…", said Natsuki scratching his head, "Say, I heard from Kaoru-kun that his brother fainted so… Could you tell me where is his room? I want to pay a visit and leave a gift"

"Sure, he's on room 5"

"Thanks!", Natsuki bowed and quickly went outside.

'We better hurry up before the other wakes up'

Natsuki hurried to the said door opening it and staring at the boy that looked troubled in his sleep and holding something in his hand.

'Damn these two are identical'

"They must be twins"

The box in his hand started to react, a small crest appearing on it and hitting the boy.

'…We killed the boy?'

"No, he's ok", Natsuki said approaching him as the boy's eyebrow started to twitch, "Ah! He's waking up!"

'Drop the box on him and run'

"Urgh… Where am I?"

"In the hospital"

"…Who are you?", he asked with confusion.

"My name is Shinomiya Natsuki, nice to meet you!", he smiled, "Ah!Here, I want to give you this"

"…What's that?"

"It's a box"

"I know it's a box!", he replied, "I just want to know what's inside!"

"I don't know, I just know that I needed to give you that"

"…"

'There's something glowing on your bag'

"Ah! So we were right!", said Natsuki taking the scroll.

"What's that?", the boy's eye widened.

"Haha, you wouldn't believe if I told you", Natsuki smiled as he was starting to fade.

"Wait a second!", the boy jumped of the bed, "Do you have anything to do with the golden eyed girl?"

Natsuki blinked for a moment in surprise, but before he could tell anything he completely vanished.

-00-

"Did this boy… Know Haru-chan?", Natsuki wondered.

'I don't know', Satsuki shrugged, '…But I think that his brother may know something, it seemed as if he recognized one of the books inside the bag'

"…There's no way to return and ask them?"

'I don't think so', Satsuki shook his head, 'Look, our own box has a piece of star incrusted'

"Yes, it's true.", he looked closely, "Hum… It's half the star"

'Well, good grief, I thought for a moment that we needed to do this bullshit four times'

"Hehe, you're too lazy Satsuki", Natsuki laughed, opening the box again.

-00-

It was morning again and no one was in sight.

'How much time we have?'

"16 hours"

'Huh, so I was right'

"Well, let's see what our next mission is", he took a map and some glass that looked as cup holders.

-You must place these glass runes on the places that appear in the map-

-The map shows where you are and the pinned places will shine when you place it-

-Beware! Closer to the center must be green, beginning of roads must be red!-

-The hidden spot is the enter of everything, place black rune there-

"Sounds fairly simply"

'Let me do this, I have more physical stamina to accomplish the task'

"OK, but you must pay attention to the runes placed!"

'Alright', Satsuki nodded.

"Let's make a plan to make things easier"

They discussed for a fair amount of time before they picked a pen inside the bag and started to trace lines to one point to another, taking the opportunity to check the small area that the lines formed.

'There's no black rune… I bet it will only appear after we place everything'

"Let's end this already, if we are lucky enough we can pick the last star key too"

'…'

There was something bad about these runes, Natsuki could feel it, but he couldn't tell exactly what it was.

Something bad will happen.

"Geez… That must be the last one", Satsuki mumbled picking the box and taking the black rune.

'Wait a second'

"What?"

'I need… To check something', he floated closer to the mail box.

-6th, August-

'Why do I feel that there's something important about this date?', Natsuki pondered with a puzzled expression.

"Natsuki! We need to place the rune now!"

'…Ok'

"The time was once re-draw"

"But now the flow is complete"

"Wha…?", Natsuki blinked, after the light blinded them.

It took few seconds, but he could swear that he saw blood on the floor.

They returned to the museum, the box breaking in many fragments as the star key fell on his hand.

'… Did we do the right thing?'

"What are you talking about Natsuki?"

'…Nothing, sorry', he shook his head, 'Let's go'

Satsuki sensed that something was off, but didn't say anything, instead he put the final key on the amethyst tome.

-00-

"I… Can't believe it", Satsuki breathed, "…For real?"

The light ended on their apartment, shining straight on the door.

'Perhaps…'

"I will unlock t with the key", he nodded, inserting the key.

The purple tome crumbled after that.

"Hum… It seems to be closer to the end", Satsuki nodded, opening the door.

They were on a big room full of colorful shards stuck on the sand, shining like gemstones and a familiar entity sitting on a chair.

Black was in the middle of the room, waiting.

"Congratulation misters, I'm glad to meet you"

"Black"

'…Satsuki, I need to talk with him'

"Oh, there's no need to switch", Black replied with a smile, "After all, this is a game for two"

He snapped his fingers, and made them separate in different bodies.

"Wha…?"

"It's a puzzle, and you must complete the star key in time", Black smiled, "…There's specific shards to make the key and only one way to know that"

"…It has something to do with my memories right?", asked Natsuki.

"Oh, and what makes you think that?"

"… The first key showed my childhood with my parents, the second key was… The memory of when Haru-chan died…", he answered with a hesitant voice, "And the third…"

"You saw a glimpse of it right?", Black looked sadly, "That can't be avoided, it's a glimpse of your future memory"

"…"

"Natsuki, what he's talking about?"

"…Nothing", Natsuki avoided looking at him, "What's this memory?"

"…Each fragment holds the memory of the person that you liked the most", Black replied, "The person that betrayed you"

"…"

"Ah! You also have a time limit", Black informed, "This is like an hourglass, you need to find the shards before you drown in sand!"

He snapped his fingers again, disappearing before Satsuki could him and with the sand falling from the ceiling.

"…We better find these shards"

"Are you going to be ok?", asked Satsuki.

"Yes, I will", he crouched down, searching for the fragments, "…We can't afford to die here"

"… Natsuki, what did you see when we got the third key?"

"…"

Satsuki let a long breath and shook his head.

"Well, we should search for the purple fragments first", said Satsuki picking the fragments and throwing inside the bag, "Better chance of being the key"

"Yes, you're righ… Ah!", Natsuki retreated his hand, looking as blood dripped from his finger and straight into a chunk of purple piece.

The piece glowed.

'Hello dear, what's your name?'

'Hu…Natsuki', he answered shyly

'Well, my name is Agatha, I will be your babysitter'

'What is that?'

'It means that I will take care of you', the woman smiled, 'Now, do you want to play?'

"…Natsuki?"

"This is one piece of my memories", he said, putting the piece on his pocket, "… It seems as the fragments needs my blood to work"

"…Damn Black! When I put my hands on him I will kill that BASTARD!"

"I don't think he can help it", Natsuki replied eerie calm, "We can hurt people even if we don't want to"

"…"

"We need to find a piece that matches the part that's broken"

"…Ok"

It was hard to find the other pieces, the sand poured even more and the exit was no longer there, the only way to escape now was finding the pieces of fragment.

'I don't have time to think or feel, I must in the fragments'

"? There's a big chunk of purple here… Eh? It's stuck on the wall?", Satsuki frowned, "… I can try making holes around it so it will be easier to get the piece…"

"Did you find anything?"

"There's a large piece here, care to check? I need to know because it's stuck really deep on this wall"

"… It probably is, the harder the most probable", Natsuki whispered, but touched the fragment with his bloodied hand again.

'…Natsuki, what's the problem?'

'My parents forgot my birthday… Again'

'Well, you don't need to make this face, after all, I can be considered your second mom right? Or… You don't think that?'

'No! I love you! You're always nice and play a lot with me, I don't feel lonely thanks to you!'

'Is that so?', she chuckled, 'Well then, I will bake a cake and we can the maids to decorate the place, what you think?'

'Relly?', his eyes sparkled, 'Ah… But daddy and mom will be bad with the mess…'

'Don't worry, I will clean it, the most important thing is that you must be happy ok?'

'Ok!'

"…"

"Oy Nat-"

"…Satsuki, can you give me the amethyst?"

"… You aren't planning to use the wish now are you?", he furrowed his brows, "Look, I know the memory is bad but…"

"I won't use my wish like that", he replied in a scary monotone.

"…"

"I need to hold it… To have the strength to believe that everything will be fine"

"…Ok", Satsuki nodded picking the small amethyst, "I think that Haruka would trust you if she was here"

"… Thanks"

"…Take your time, I will search for the rest of fragments"

"I will worry about that after we finish, the sand is filling the room fairly quickly"

Satsuki was worried, as he was born because of Natsuki's negative feelings he was well aware of the issues of the blond boy and the psychological scars that he had because of what happened.

…But then again, he didn't have the power to help him, he could only hope for the better.

"Huh, I found another piece", Natsuki's eyes flickered for a moment as his blood fell on another piece.

'Hey Natsuki… Where your mom hides her jewels?'

'Huh? What's with this sudden question?'

'Hum… You see…', the woman hesitated, 'My mom is really sick and I don't have enough money to pay the treatment and medicines…'

'…I would like to help but I don't think mom will like it'

'But she barely uses them! If ever at all!', the woman said with a serious face, 'It isn't fair, why the rich can waste money with ornaments while we, who doesn't have money cant afford to buy medicines?'

'…Agata'

'She isn't fair with me or you too', the woman continued, 'How could they leave you alone? A child like you doesn't deserve it!'

'…'

'…Sorry, I didn't mean to say that'

'…It's ok, it's the truth after all', he whispered, looking down, 'At least I have you, and that's enough'

'Then… What If take you with me?'

'Hum?'

'We can take these jewels, help my mother and I will take you with me, so I can be your mother!', said the woman in a cheerful tone, 'If your parents doesn't you then I do!'

'…Really?', his eyes brightened.

'Really!', she smiled, 'Now, let's go!'

'Y-Yes'

"… I think we are close", Natsuki smiled sadly, "The end of this story is near"

'This is a nightmare… I want to get out of this place… '

It wasn't his voice or even his thoughts; it was a scared voice from long ago, the memory that hurt him the most, which he was afraid to let go.

"Stop Natsuki", said Satsuki holding by his arm, "Here, let me use your blood to check the shards myself"

"No… I'm ok, it's the final part", Natsuki replied, looking determined even if pain was reflected on his eyes, "I… Need to do this, or else I won't be able to let go"

"… You sure grew stronger huh?", Satsuki let go of him, nodding, "… But I shouldn't be surprised, I'm not reacting to danger"

"… Thanks a lot", Natsuki smiled, picking another piece that fit with the almost complete star key.

'Ah… So here it is…', the woman whistled, 'I didn't think that secret pass ways existed'

'It's a small room with a big treasure chest, that's all', Natsuki smiled using the key to open the chest, 'Here we go!'

'Wow, such shiny and pretty jewels…'

'Yeah, we can take a part and mom won't notice'

'A part? Nah, I intend to take everything', the woman chuckled.

'Wha-'

'Sorry Natsuki', the woman whispered.

Something hit his head, and he fell unconscious.

"…I feel like I'm missing something", Natsuki blinked in confusion and stared the star key that somehow fused all the pieces that he gathered.

Except one.

"…What's still missing?"

"Natsuki!", Satsuki called him with an alarmed voice.

"Hum?"

He looked around and understood the motive of panic, the sand was above their waist, it was very hard to move and soon it woul be impossible.

"There's still one piece missing!"

"I think I found it!", Satsuki screamed, "Dammit! It's only me or the sand level is increasing faster?!"

"Pretty sure it's the case", said Natsuki trying to move, without success, "… I can't move"

"I will throw it and you catch ok?", he tried to struggle as he took the bag out of the heavy sand and picked the purple piece, throwing with perfect accuracy.

"Caught it!"

The star key was complete.

'Where… Am I?', he blinked when he saw that he was surrounded by darkness.

He tried to struggle, but he couldn't as the place was very cramped.

'Help! Someone!', he tried to cry for help.

'Rise and Shine Natsuki', said a familiar voice.

'Agata?!'

'Right now you're inside the treasure chest, I took everything so it was more… Comfortable'

'W-Why you did this to me? W-Why you lied?'

'Now, I didn't completely lie', she chuckled, 'I am taking all of the jewels after all'

'…Then why you lock me here? Please, let me out! It's scary!', he cried, banging the upper part.

'Hum… Because I felt sorry for you', Agatha replied, her voice even, 'Such a pitiful boy, always alone and your parents never caring about you, even when I took care of you when you caught that nasty illness~ They didn't come home right?'

More chuckles.

'So… I thought', she continued, 'What if I lock you there and call your parents? Will they come or will they left you to die? I will call them and tell that I locked you"

'…Please, let me out'

'Didn't you want the attention of your parents Natsuki-kun?', Agatha smiled, 'Either way, they will treasure you more right?'

The door of the room opened with a loud sound, and the sand in the room flooded out.

But Natsuki didn't even pay attention to it.

"…It took 2 days until I was freed", Natsuki mumbled, "My parents thought that it was a joke, that's why they were late"

But it was a lie, when he talked with the maids they told him how his parents called only the next morning to ask his whereabouts and told the servants where he was.

They didn't return to check him, just got a call and that's it.

…He received a letter with a jewel the next day.

He took the crumpled letter from his pocket, apparently, even after all these years he didn't have the courage to throw it and always put close to him, ignoring it's existence, but fearing to lose it.

It seemed like it was finally time to open the letter.

-I want to apologize for the fear you passed, I really thought that they would come for you, but it doesn't seem like the case-

-… Maybe I should have brought you with me after all, but I guess it's too late and you probably hate me right?-

-I'm sorry for fooling you, lonely child, but don't ever forget the good moments we passed together-

-…Surely one day you will meet someone that means it and they will never betray you-

"After all these years… I was so caught you with my fears…", Natsuki cried, but it was tears of happiness, "…But I finally did it… I found this person… "

…And he would meet her soon.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**FINALLY! NOW NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE GOODBYE AND THE END OF NATSUKI'S ARC!**

**HORAY~**

**Are you prepared for the next arc? Sadly it will be short and… Sad, very sad. 8D**

…

**REVIEW TIME!**

**GlamGurl17**-Haha no problem~I just told you because you liked Kaoru ^^,

Jealous? Why? XD

**Mysticperv**- Hope you're prepared for the next arc then. It will be an emotional wreck XD, Ah! I don't know if you read y other fanfic, but you can follow Kaoru/Syo's adventure in "Gaiden: Fulfillment of Contract"

**Brandnewmelody**- Yeah, Ouch indeed, he is strong to endure so much pain! Poor thing D: (I'm an asshole pfff)

Ok, next UtaPri guy who will suffer through the whole path coming… XD!


	19. Chapter 19

"Today is the day", Natsuki smiled.

He took the bag and made sure that he put everything that would be useful in the bag and exited the library.

"It feels nostalgic huh?", Natsuki whistled a melody.

'Yes'

"Did you think of what you want to say to her?"

'Heh, did you?'

Natsuki smiled in response.

-00-

'Do we need to put these stars in the correct place or something?'

"There's no instructions, so I guess that we only need to insert them", Natsuki answered inspecting the totem, before he decided that there wasn't anything after all so he just put the star keys in place.

-Click-

There was a rumble and Natsuki took some steps back as something shot from the top of the totem, going up until it reached the sky.

"Wow, that reminds me of Jack and the Beanstalk story"

'…Are we supposed to climb this thing?'

"Look there's something written on it!"

-The Lady is waiting on the top, but you must not sleep or doze off or else you will be back to the beginning-

"Hum… It seems that we can't relax until we arrive at the top"

'Let me try', Satsuki said, 'I have a higher chance'

"Ok! Do your best!"

He said that but…

HOW TALL WAS THIS TOWER?!

'Wow, we're way above the buildings', Natsuki whistled with an impressed tone.

"Ugh…"

'Satsuki, are you ok?'

"I'm feeling a bit dizzy", he shook his head.

'It's pretty high… I think there isn't a lot of air'

"Ugh…"

'Let's stop for a moment so you can catch a breath'

"No, we aren't even close to the top!"

'There's no need to force yourself like this', Natsuki replied, 'Maybe there's another way to reach the top'

"…"

'Let's go back and think of something'

"…Fine", he begrudging closed his eyes.

When he opened them again he saw himself in front of the ugly totem.

"…You know, if it takes just a couple of seconds with closed eyes to take us back then this thing is impossible to beat"

'Hum… I don't think so', Natsuki shook his head, 'Black can make some hard games but they aren't unwinnable'

"So… What you suggest?"

'Let's check the totem again'

"You already checked everything that could be checked on this ugly thing"

'Hum… I think that there's a trick to solve this', Natsuki closed his eyes.

"Fine, you think that there's something you missed then we can check again", Satsuki replied with an exasperate sigh.

Well, at least he could breathe better now.

Satsuki stood there while Natsuki approached the totem, trailing his fingers, almost expecting to find a secret part or something.

Nothing.

"…Well… Then?"

'Nothing', Natsuki pondered, furrowing his brows, 'But I'm sure that we overlooked something…'

"Hey, we checked this thing twice, up and down, there's no way that-"

'Ah! That's the answer!'

"…What?"

'We didn't check the top!'

"… Isn't that a bit late?", Satsuki arched an eyebrow, "The top is above the clouds right now"

'True… Hum…', he sighed.

No… There should be a way; they didn't brave obstacles and dangers only to be stopped by a simply and inoffensive tower.

'We went through a lot of things to collect these star keys', Natsuki mumbled, ghostly touching it.

Then an idea took form in his mind.

'I know!', he gasped, 'Satsuki, take one of the star keys!'

"Huh?", Satsuki blinked, but obeyed anyway.

There was another rumble, and the tower shrank.

"What the f-"

'Satsuki, climb it!'

"Huh?", Satsuki gave him a confused stare.

'Trust me'

Satsuki shrugged his shoulders and climbed the ugly monument, sitting on the flat top.

"Ok, so what?"

'Put the star key back and hold firmly'

"Hum… I see", he frowned before he let a heavy sigh.

It would be an awful ride to the top.

He grasped the border of the thing until his knuckles were white, placing the key with a bit of hesitation.

And waited, not daring move a muscle.

'Ah! It's rumbling!'

The totem shot up again.

Satsuki won't tell anyone about this and would beat anyone who asked him(even Natsuki), but he screamed like a little girl.

-00-

"Urgh…", he coughed when the totem stopped, launching him to the top until he hit the ceiling, falling on the floor after that.

'Satsuki, are you ok?'

"…Next time I will climb this shit", he cursed, "…I almost broke my arm"

"To be truly honest, it's a surprise that you're intact", said an amused voice.

Satsuki stood up after he heard the words, looking around until he saw a familiar person sitting on the couch.

The Purple Lady.

"I know that you are both tired", she smiled kindly, "But you can't stop here, as soon as you stepped inside this place the destruction began"

'Des...Truction?'

"Yes", she took a mirror and showed him as pieces of the city started to disintegrate, "Follow me, I will show the gate to exit this world"

-00-

"This is the gate?"

"Yes", Purple replied, "But to open it you must say a special word"

"And that would be…?"

"My real name", the lady answered.

'Couldn't she tell us?'

"I'm afraid that this isn't possible", she shook her head, "Black made a spell that this door can only be open if you figure it out"

'Then how can we do it?'

The lady in purple clapped her hands, making a scroll appear on the floor, in front of her.

**-The savior of the darkness once made a promise to bring happiness and heal wounds.**

…**The savior almost found his end, but was saved twice, thanks to Red and Emerald.**

**You can't heal, there's only pain in both ends.**

**We switch places, but both will die.-**

"Urgh… Puzzles"

'Ok, let's see…', Natsuki stared the scroll with a serious face, 'The savior of darkness… heal… This words looks important and was repeated twice, there must be something related to it'

Why there were so many references about the end? Unless…

He needed to change two words in the end of "Savior", but for what? What would be the words?

'We need to change the last words for something else'

"… Whose?"

'The first'

"Hum… Then what about Red and Emerald?"

'S-A-V-D-D?', Natsuki blinked, 'This… Doesn't feel right somehow'

"Well, the text only has capital words on the beginning, but Red and Emerald looks like an exception"

'They could be names'

"Or…"

'The initials could be the last words', Natsuki completed, smiling, 'Wow Satsuki that was very smart!'

"What you by that?", he glared.

'Nothing', he shook his head, 'It's just that you're so used to resolve thing by breaking stuff that I'm surprised that you're willing to think!'

"Natsuki"

'Yes?'

"Shut up"

Natsuki chuckled for a couple of seconds, but then he assumed a serious face again.

'Hum… This one is fairly simply', Natsuki trailed his finger over the words, 'Heal and Pain in both ends… I just need to switch L to N right?'

"So the name is Savre Hean?", Satsuki turned to the lady of purple.

"Not exatcly", she shook her head, "…But you're close"

"Damn! What else we are missing?!"

-Crack-

"What's this sound?"

"You must hurry; the totem is already being destroyed"

"Already?", he cursed.

'Calm down Satsuki! Panicking won't help!', Natsuki said, but he was also very apprehensive, "Let's see… The savior of the darkness once made a promise to bring happiness and heal wounds…The savior almost found his end, but was saved twice, thanks to Red and Emerald. You can't heal, there's only pain in both ends. We switch places, but both will die"

Switch places?

'Hean Savre'

There was a rumble and both looked alarmed, wondering If the destruction of the room already started, but to their relief it was just the sound of the door sliding back, a white light coming from it.

"We did it!", both sighed in relief.

"Congratulations", the Lady nodded.

"Purple… No, Hean… Thanks", Natsuki thanked her.

"No… I should be the one to say that", the woman smiled, "… After seeing your struggle I finally understood… I will trust in my dear friend choice even if it pains him or me"

'Hean, what…'

"You better hurry, and make your wish right?", Hean cut him, "After all, you waited for this moment for a long time already"

'Yes…', Natsuki nodded.

Satsuki picked the small gemstone as Natsuki placed his hand on it, both closing their eyes as they made their wish.

"I want to revive Haruka Nanami!"

"Pay your price…", the voice in the jewel said.

'Huh? What price?', Natsuki blinked in confusion.

"Oy Hean, what's the meaning of this!?", asked Satsuki, but the lady just calmly approached the gem, touching it with her long and elegant fingers.

"I'm paying the price", she said with a firm voice, "…I will give my life"

The gemstone floated above their heads and a strong light started to shine so Natsuki and Satsuki shielded their eyes and took a step back.

"It's been a while… Natsuki… Satsuki"

'Haru-chan?'

"Haruka?"

The light faded slowly until the figure in the place were once was the jewel took a step.

"Hello", she whispered, a smile adorning her face.

"Forgive me", Satsuki whispered hugging the girl with all his strength, like he wanted to confirm if she was really there.

"There's nothing to forgive, it wasn't your fault", she chuckled, hugging back, "But if you need to hear it then… I forgive you"

"Children", called a voice.

Haruka, Satsuki and Natsuki stopped and looked at the source of the voice, the gentle Lady of Purple, Hean Savre, that slowly faded away, like a smoke.

"…Thanks a lot", Haruka bowed.

'Miss Hean…Why did you do that?', asked Natsuki sadly.

"My friends wanted to save Black of himself", Hean started to explain, "But to do that there was a price: Killing ourselves, his most precious friends"

"…"

"Everyone gladly took their lives but… I hesitated", she whispered, letting tears fall, "Because… The wish meant his death and… I didn't want to kill my dear friend"

'So that's the reason of they being mad with you? Because they thought that you betrayed them?'

"Yes", Hean nodded, "I wonder if… Even after all this time they are willing to forgive me"

"…They will", said Satsuki, to everyone's surprise, "If they are good friends they will forgive you"

"Thanks", she said with a grateful and relived voice, "…Before I part I need to tell something"

She looked serious, and held Haruka's hand, showing the back where a purple clock tattoo was.

"As I said before, I'm not strong enough to give you a full life", Hean said with sad eyes, "This clock tells how many days and hours you have left, each day that pass the number will disappear"

"I understand", Haruka nodded.

"What a pair of determined eyes", the woman chuckled, "Now, It's better if you go through this portal"

'But…', Natsuki looked at Haruka with a bit of hesitation.

"Don't worry, you will have time to say your goodbye", Hean replied as if she could read his mind, "But it isn't safe here, there's cracks on the wall and this world is about to collapse"

The trio nodded, giving a last look as the woman completely faded, entering the portal.

-00-

"It's rather foggy here", Haruka said, looking around.

"Haruka"

"Hum?", she blinked, looking back.

"I know that you have a limited time but…", Satsuki mumbled.

"It's ok" she gave an understanding look, "I have enough time to say hello and goodbye after so long"

"…Since I was born I thought that I was only a part of Natsuki and nothing more", he said, "But… After I meet you and got to know more about you… I wondered"

"Continue", she held his hands.

"Why I had such selfish desires? I was supposed to just care and protect Natsuki, but I found myself draw to you and I wished to protect you too… And I also trusted you to take care of Natsuki"

"Is that so?", she giggled, "I'm happy to hear that"

'Can I… Talk to her?'

"Pff… You're the one that wanted to see her the most right?", Satsuki snorted, closing his eyes, "Go for it"

There was a light, and Natsuki opened his eyes.

He blinked several times, as tears of happiness while he hugged her.

How much he missed her warmth, her face, voice and wonderful smile! After such a long time he felt that no matter how much time he stood there, he won't get enough of her presence.

"Haru-chan! I'm so happy to meet you again!", she sobbed.

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone"

"No… You never left me alone", he shook his head, his voice full of gentleness and fondness, "I wasn't able to feel or hear you but I never doubted that you left my side, I felt it in my heart… You gave me a lot of courage! Thank you!"

"You were very brave", she chuckled, "I'm proud of you and I'm happy to see you smiling"

"It's thanks to you", he replied, "You're the person I always wished for… Someone that would truly love me and would never betray me!"

"What a touching moment"

'Black!', Satsuki barked standing in front of them even if he wasn't solid.

"Relax Satsuki, I won't do anything", Black said with a tint of amusement, "You're in the corridor to exit this place and I felt the need to warm both of you"

'What dirty tricks are you planning?!'

"Satsuki, if I wanted to do something I could undo your existence"

'…'

"But… Of course it depends of miss Nanami, as she has the power to undo my curses right?"

"Satsuki isn't a curse", Haruka replied, "He never was"

"Hum~So that means that you don't want to undo Natsuki's curse?"

"I DO want to undo something", Haruka smiled, looking at Natsuki, that nodded in agreement, "Please undo the Satsuki's command"

"Pardon?"

"I don't want him to hurt people every time I get hurt", Natsuki said, "So this way he can never hurt the people he love again"

"I see… Well, it shall be done", Black snapped his fingers.

Haruka and Natsuki let a relived sigh.

"But you see… There's one more thing"

"What it is?", asked Natsuki.

Black snapped his finger again and Natsuki turned back into a child.

"!"

'What the f-'

"When you go back you will return to the day you made your wish", Black explained, "When you reach the end of this corridor you will be back in your time"

"Ah…!", Natsuki blinked sadly and looked back at Haruka, "But…"

"Don't worry, you will meet again", Black chuckled ruffling his hair, "Luckily for you, Haruka and you share almost the same year of birth so you will meet her again"

"What a relief…"

"Well… I should go, after all I interrupted a touching goodbye right?", he winked, disappearing in black smoke.

"I wonder how much he knows", Natsuki chuckled.

"Sorry, after so long you need to wait for me again"

"It's ok, I told you before right? I will wait for you as long as it takes!", he shook his head, then blinked a few moments before an idea took form in his mind, "Haru-chan, can you crouch a bit? I can't reach you"

"Like this?", she asked crouching to his level.

The blond nodded and hugged her a last time, kissing her soflty on her cheek.

"I promise you that next time, when I grow up and meet you again, I will give you a kiss on the lips!", he chuckled, "Ah! And Satsuki too of course!"

"N-Natsuki", her eyes widened as her face got slight red.

"Until then… It's a goodbye!", he said looking down for a moment.

"Goodbye is too sad", Haruka whispered touching her forehead with his, "Let's say… That we will meet each other again"

"Yes!"

They both held hands and walked the corridor, Natsuki made sure of giving her bag back (she was surprised to see it intact after everything both went through).

"I couldn't pick a lot of things, but I made sure to put some new plasters in case you need them", he told her, "Ah… And Satsuki made some things too!"

"Thank you Natsuki … And Satsuki, of course", she replied, which made Satsuki blush slight(which to his relief she couldn't see) putting the bag on her back, "Ah… It's only me or the fog is denser?"

"True… Hum?"

A strong wind blowed and hit them with force, which made their hands slip for a couple of seconds, which was enough to separate them as they were carried to opposite sides, their hands trying to reach the other.

"Haruka!"

"Natsuki! Satsuki!"

"Until we meet again!", he smiled, "Good luck! I will pray for your success!"

"Until we meet again!", she also replied with tears, but managed to smile, "I too… Will pray for your happiness!"

It's alright, after the hardships the "Happy Ending" will be waiting for us.

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**FINALLY! NATSUKI'S ARC ENDED AND WE WILL START THE NEW ARC!...which will be short.**

**ANYONE WANT TO BET WHO WILL BE HUH?HUH? XD**

**Can't wait to write it *Evil face***

**MAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA A!**

**...OH, JUST TO REMIND YOU GUYS:**

**THE DANGER DIDN'T END! REMEMBER!**

**Haruka has only 12 days of life. :D**

…

**Ahem, review time!**

**Starlight346- Nah**, don't worry I revived her, you should worry about the next arc :D

**GlamGurl17-** Oh boy, gonna kill you over feels with the next one, let's see if you change again your pairing preference for this fic XD


	20. Chapter 20

"Congratulations for getting the first key", saluted Black.

"Black, what are you doing here?"

"Well, just wanted to tell you that someone will arrive soon in this place", the man smiled, "That person can help you"

"What's the price?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're not the kind to help if it doesn't have a cost"

"Hahaha~ Don't worry, I'm not helping you", Black shook his head, "This person is traveling the places I created, so she's on her own"

"She?"

"Yes…", Black smiled widely, "Haruka Nanami is a strong girl, to survive not only once, but twice!"

"H-How long it will take until she arrives?"

"Hum… I think Natsuki is closer to arriving at Hean's place so… It will take a bit, but don't worry that it isn't much"

He could barely believe it… He could finally meet her again?

"Nanami…"

"You sure look happy", Black chuckled, "It's just a shame that… You won't be able to "see" her"

"It's ok, as long as I can't meet her I don't care"

"Heh, well said", Black nodded, "Now if you excuse me, I need to go… Masato"

Masato slowly walked to the middle of the room where a big piano was.

He finished the puzzle hours ago and acquired one of the 6 keys needed to open the door to escape the place, but he found a certain difficulty to go after the other doors.

'It doesn't matter how, but I will do it', he shook his head, trailing his fingers over the piano while he sat on the seat.

He started to play a melody while old memories flooded his mind.

-Flashback-

It started with a night party organized by his father, the head of the Hirijikawa's corporation, with a lot of adults and no child in sight.

…Except him, of course.

"Behave yourself Masato, there's a lot of important people here"

"Yes father", Masato nodded, greeting the final guests and walking to the most secluded part, as he felt out of place in the big mansion.

He was already used to not have any child of his talk or play with him, every time his father hosted a party it would only b meant for adults and none of the adults talked about something that he could understand.

He sighed, already hoping that the night ended earlier.

"Papa… Why there are only adults in this party?"

"Eh?", he blinked when he heard a childish voice.

It was a little girl in a simply white dress, holding the hand of an older male that shared the same and exotic eye colors of the girl, which meant that they were father and daughter.

"Hum?", he froze when she looked in his direction, pointing at him, "There's another child there! Hello!"

"…Hello", he gave a little wave, feeling a bit shy.

"Good night, Mr. Kazue", greeted a man, that Masato noticed to be his father, "I'm glad that you're going to play the piano for the guests, I hope you're as talented as everyone claims you to be"

"Haha, don't worry Mr. Hirijikawa, I do my best to live to everyone's expectations", Kazue laughed, lowering his gaz until he meet his eyes, "Who's this little boy?"

"He's my son, Masato"

"Nice to meet you sir", Masato bowed slight.

"Nice to meet you too", the man bowed back.

"Hum… Sir, I didn't expect you to bring your child", said his father arching an eyebrow with a disapproving looks.

"Don't worry, Haruka is a nice and obedient girl, she can behave herself", the man replied, "Isn't that right dear?"

"Yes", nodded the girl.

"…Fine, I expect you to play soon", his father said, walking away.

"Alright, I will put the sheets on the piano", the man bowed, also walking away, leaving both children alone.

"Huh…", he started to fidget, unsure to what to say, "W-What's your name?"

"Haruka! Surname being Nanami, but don't call daddy Nanami because it sounds girlish ok?", she giggled, extending her hand, "You must be Hirijikawa-kun right?"

"Y-Yes", he shook her hand.

"Hum… I know it will sound rude but your daddy is scary"

"I-I know", he started to fidget again.

Ok, what was he supposed to do now?

Maybe he could ask her to play with him? No, dad would be angry if they did that.

…Unless they did it on the back garden? Yes, that could work! No one went there after all!

"M-Miss Nanami", he stuttered, "If you want we can play on the back garden"

"Ah, there's no need!", she shook her head, "I want to watch papa playing the piano!"

"Oh… I see…", he started to fidget again.

"Hey, I didn't mean that I won't play with you", she held his arm which made him look back at her smiling face.

He blushed a bit.

"Father is a great pianist!", her eyes practically sparkled while she held his wrist and dragged him, "I bet you will love listening to him!"

"W-Wait a second Miss Nanami!"

The dark pink haired girl just continued to drag him until she found two chairs sitting on the corner, near the stage where her father was putting the sheets, smiling when he saw his daughter.

"He will start", the girl held her breath, looking mesmerized.

Masato blinked a few times, as the girl held strongly his arm, letting a sigh as he felt as if he wouldn't be able to get out.

A melody filled the air.

His eyes widened in wonder as he saw the man effortless trailing his fingers on the piano, making an intricate mix of sounds, full of harmony and upbeat tone.

"Wonderful right?", she whispered.

"Yes…", he replied, still too stunned.

She relaxed her grip on his arm, but he didn't intend to move anymore, like everyone else, he could just only stare in awe, feeling a rush of happy feelings.

So he stood there until the end.

"That was… Amazing!", he said to the girl as they both got up, feeling the need to stretch their legs before they went numb.

"Haha~ Thanks, I'm very proud of my father!", she puffed her chest, "Ah! You said earlier that you wanted to play right? Let's play!"

"Huh? Really?"

"Of course!", she giggled, taking his hand again, "Ah! And you look pretty when you smile!"

-End of the Flashback-

Masato finished the song, smiling fondly as he remembered how they first meet, pausing for a second before he started to play another simply melody, the first one that h learned.

-Flashback-

The guests already went home, but because his mother and father liked so how much their guests reacted to her father performance they were discussing another possible event that he could play again.

He was outside, wandering the large and quiet corridors of his mansion.

'Where is she?', he looked around, worried.

"Nanami-san?", he called.

As soon as his father caller her's to discuss the girl went on her way, walking around the mansion, but he couldn't follow her as he needed to wait until his father told him that it was ok to go.

Plim~

"Hum?", he stopped when he heard the sound, "It sounds like someone is playing on the piano? But who could be? Mister Kazue is still talking with father…"

He walked until he arrived at the principal room, and saw the girl, Haruka, playing on the piano.

While her fingers weren't long as her father, she sure got his skills. Playing the serene and gently melody without making a mistake, like a muse of music.

-Creck-

She stopped and looked curious at the source of the sound.

"S-Sorry, you can continue", he took a step back, but she opened a bright smile and made gestures, asking him to approach her.

"How long were you here?", she asked.

"Not for long", he shook his head as she gave him space to sit close to her (which made his heart beat fast for an unknown reason), "I heard someone playing and wanted to check"

"Hum… I see", she put her finger on her lips in thoughtful way, before she decided to play some notes in total silence.

Masato didn't dare to utter a word, afraid to disturb the harmonious sound.

"What did you think?", she asked after she finished, a gentle expression in her face.

"It was… I don't have words", he shook his head.

"Hey… If you want I can teach you this song"

"Huh? Really?", his eyes widened.

"Yes, let's switch places", she nodded, standing up as they switched places.

He felt as his sweat dropped and his body shook of tension, as the girl showed him the first notes of the melody, so when it was his turn he messed badly.

"Calm down", she put her hands on his, her little and delicate hand on top of his.

She started to push his fingers gently as her hands were still laying on the same position, making soft noises.

"See?", she smiled.

He blinked when she let go, staring at the piano's keys before he decided to push them, making the same noises.

"Hum… I think you have talent for this", the girl nodded in approval.

"How can you tell?"

"You easily learned what I taught you even if I needed to do it once!", she chuckled, "At this rate you will learn the whole song today!"

"Oh…", his eyes widened as he looked back to the piano, feeling a strange mix of happiness and thrill of anticipation.

It was the first time he laughed loudly and also the first time that he felt free.

'I… Want to learn how to play', he thought as his finger trailed the keys, making mistakes sometimes, but not being too serious to make him feel ashamed, 'This wonderful sensation… I love it'

So… Of course, he asked his father.

"Music? Why do you want to learn something so useless?"

"I- I can manage the other classes fine and I don't mind to have piano classes on my free time", he stuttered, trying his best to convince his father even if he feared the man, "So please…!"

"Masato, you're going to be the heir of our corporation", the man furrowed his brows, "If you want to listen to music then pay someone to play for you!"

"But father…!"

-Toc Toc-

"Who's it?"

"Mister Hirijikawa, it's me, Kazue"

"…Enter"

The pianist entered the room, bowing slight while Haruka stood there, hugging her father's leg, but staring him with worry and concern.

"I heard about little Masato wanting to learn how to play piano", said the man, "I can teach him"

"What? There's no way that I'm allowing him!"

"Sir, my daughter told me that he's a genius", the man replied unfazed, "She's pretty attuned with music, so I think it would be a waste if you don't let the boy bring his full potential"

Haruka nodded, not saying anything but staring the man with a pleading look.

"Besides… If your son played for the guests in one of the parties that you always organize he would be a great topic of discussion", the man winked at him, as he looked back to his father.

The man looked interested, that was good, as this meant that they had a chance.

"Hum… Fine, but only in his free time!"

"Thanks father!", he bowed.

"Now go, I'm busy with my work"

Everyone nodded and went outside, with Haruka hugging him tightly as soon as they were out.

"We did it!", she chirped, "Now you can learn how to play piano with me and daddy!"

"You will come along?", his eyes widened.

"Yes", she nodded before she gave another concerned look, "…Is that a problem?"

"No!", he shook his head, "I'm just surprised, that's all!"

"Right! Let's enjoy this month while it last!"

"While is last?"

"Ah! Sorry, I didn't tell you right?", she said with an apologizing voice, "We live in another country, daddy only came here because your father hired him to play piano"

"Oh…"

"But like I said, let's enjoy it!", she perked up holding his hands, "We can call each other and on my next vacation I can visit you again!"

He still looked unsure.

"Hey, don't worry", she said, "With me there's no goodbye, but see you soon!"

-End of Flashback-

"Hirijikawa-kun…?!", said a surprised voice.

"Who's there?", he asked trying to localize the source of the sound.

Minutes ago…

"This place is… Very small", Haruka murmured as she opened her eyes and noticed the small room, full of bookshelves, with 6 doors and one big dark blue gate.

She approached the gate and looked closely, noticing 6 openings for keys.

"This one is pretty straightforward", she blinked looking around, "Is there anyone besides me here?"

She put a hand on the knob of the closest door and tried to open it to no avail.

"Hum… Let's try another", she reached to the next door, surprised to see that it opened.

There was a familiar melody being played.

'So there's someone else here after all', she stepped inside.

There was a tall male sitting on the small seat, trailing his finger with great skill.

He didn't seem to notice her presence.

'He looks familiar', Haruka thought, approached the man slowly.

When she saw his face she recognized him.

"Hirijikawa-kun?!"

"Who's there?", Masato asked, looking around even if she was only few meters in front of her.

"M-Masato, it's me! Haruka!", she answered, taking a step forward.

"Haruka?", his eyes widened as he tried to reach her, but grasping only air.

…And that was when she noticed why he couldn't see her.

"Masato, your eyes…!", she gasped, reaching for his hand and holding it, "Are you… Blind?"

"Yes", he nodded, but it didn't seem to bother him, "But it doesn't matter, I'm glad to se… Meet you again"

He took a hesitant step and reached for her hand, trailing it slowly to her back until he could pull her in an embrace, squeezing her slowly as if he couldn't believe that she was real.

'What is he doing here?', Haruka thought in confusion, 'It's been so long since we last talked with each other… Why is he here?'

"Masa… Why are you here?", Haruka asked, which made the man stiff.

"…"

"Masato?"

"… Do you remember the day I made that promise to you?", he asked.

Haruka blinked a few times before she closed her eyes, trying to remember.

It was during her vacation when they are learning how to play piano together, and the blue haired boy suddenly asked to talk with her.

-Flashback-

"Nanami… Do you have any wish?", she remembered him asking.

"Hum… None at the moment", she replied, looking puzzled, "Why?"

"I… Never felt happy before, but now, thanks to you, I am", he replied with a serious voice, "That's why, if there's any way to repay you I will do it"

"I'm pretty happy so I don't think I need anything", she answered, but when she saw how stiff he turned she decided to change, "I-I mean, if I ever have a wish I will be sure to ask you ok?"

"Ok", he replied sounding satisfied, " It's a promise!"

-End of Flashback-

"Yes… I remember it, but what it has to do…"

Oh.

Her eyes widened as she finally understood.

"… Do you remember how I wasn't able to grant your wish?", he replied, guilty, anger and sadness dripping from his voice.

"Masato, it's ok! There wasn't anything that we could do back then!"

"It's not true", he cringed, "If... If I at least tried…"

There were no excuses, she always cared about him, but when it was his turn to return her kindness he stepped back, like a coward.

She only asked an innocent question, but he refused, even when she said that it was her wish he couldn't grant it.

'Hirijikawa-kun why don't you come with us?'

'Eh? N-No, I can't!'

'Masato, you're unhappy here! You always look sad… I can't stand it!'

'Nanami…'

'That's why you should come with me and father, he's very nice, and can take care of you just fine!'

'D-Didn't you tell me once how your mother takes care of an orphanage? It would only trouble her and you'

'It's ok, there's always space to more people in our family!'

'…'

'…Do you remember when you asked me if I had any wish?', she stared him with confident eyes, 'Then that's my wish: I want you to be free and happy with us!'

'…Sorry, but…', he shook his head, fear cursing through his veins when he remembered the stern face of his father, 'I can't'

'Please! Hirijikawa-kun!', she begged as he took steps back, '…MASATO!'

He ran back to his house and stayed there, not even daring to look her in the eye when she went away as he felt too ashamed.

"Masa… It's ok", she said again feeling sadness gripping her heart to see him so miserable, "Besides… It was irresponsible of my part to ask you that, I just assumed that father would agree with it and mother too. I- I didn't think of the consequences!"

"… It isn't only that", he whispered, "It's… Everything else after what happened"

"…"

She felt a pang in her chest… She knew what he was talking about.

"… What happened?", Haruka asked stepping slight back so she could stare him, "After we said our goodbyes… Did your father do anything?"

"…"

"Please, tell me", she said gently even if her face was a mask of worry, "I tried to contact you many times but I received a reply only once"

"After you were gone and my class started dad decided to put me in many courses", he whispered in a barely audible voice, "I didn't have time to even breath"

"… That explains why every time I tried to call you, your butler always told me that you were occupied", she looked down for a second before she lifted her face, "… But what about the letters I sent to you?"

He stiffed again, with a sad look as he slowly let of her hands, as if he couldn't think he was worthy of holding her.

"I kept every letter you sent in my desk", he answered, "I never had the chance to read it because of how busy I was but… There was a day I couldn't take it anymore, I skipped my class to read all the letters you sent me and… I lost track of the time, when I finished it was already late"

"Masato…", she tried to reach him, but decided against it as he saw his whole body shaking.

He was crying.

"The letter I sent you… I sent it after I read all of these letters but… When I returned…", he paused, "Father was waiting for me, he got a call from my teachers and he knew that I skipped classes"

"Did he…?", her eyes widened, receiving a nod in response.

"… He burnt all of them", he continued, "And gave orders to the butlers to burn any letter that got into our house, I tried to wake earlier to snatch one but they were already up and always burned your letters"

"…"

"The only consolation I had while I saw they burning them everyday was that you always wrote", he said, "…But at the same time I was scared, what if one day you gave up? What if… You hated me for never replying back?"

"I don't hate you", Haruka said with a firm voice, reaching his face and trying to wipe the remaining tears with her fingers, "And I won't give up, I would send you letter until the day I die"

"Die…", he reached her hands, looking uncomfortable again, "Yes… I thought it would be the case."

He held her hand firmly as a long and heavy silence filled the room.

"You know, on the day of 6th, August I had a dream about you", he said suddenly, "It was… About the day of my promise"

"…"

"I had a bad feeling about it", his eyes widened as if he was reviving the moment again, "When I got back from school, my butler called me and told me to watch the TV and…"

Haruka's eyes also widened when she remembered what happened on day 6th of August.

The day she first died.

"I… Was hit by a car and… Everything was dark", she whispered, "There was so much pain… And… I passed away"

"Yes", he laughed bitterly, "I didn't think of anything else, I just took the first flight to see you with my own eyes and I still couldn't believe it, even when I saw your coffin… I only had the courage to see you after it was too late"

"It isn't late"

"Hum?"

"I'm here, in front of you right?", she smiled even if she knew that he couldn't see it, "Remember what I said once? There's no goodbye with me, only see you soon!"

"…"

He was speechless; he didn't know how to react at all.

"How are you? What are you doing? Are you happy? I hope you're smiling!", she sobbed but let a small laugh, "It's ok now, every letter you couldn't read before… I remember all of them! I can tell you everything now that we're together again!"

-Tick tick-

She could hear the clock in her hand ticking slowly and prayed that Masato couldn't hear it too.

She knew that she had only 12 days to live, but she couldn't leave him like that, besides, one day less won't make a difference right?

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**Haruka, you won't lose only 1 day in this arc, believe me õ_Õ**

**And it's Masato's arc! Who guessed it right?**

…**I bet that there's people that may wonder if she will see any future memory or not and if this time she can change it hum~? **

**Well, she will have one, and it won't be pretty.**

**But be at ease, it won't be in the next chapter because I made them and you readers suffer enough XD**

…

**Ok, Review Time~**

**Starlight346-** Remember when you asked me what could be "more sad than Haruka dying right?", well, that's the answer XD(and not the end of it, because this arc didn't end), Hahaha did you say that you were prepared? Kay then, how are you now? 8D MAHAHAHAHHAHA

**GlamGurl17-** You mean… Sad right? XD

**Brandnewmelody**- Yeah, Natsuki is a cutie~ And I started to like him more(not that I didn't like him, but I never could imagine him with Haruka as a pairing XD)

**Rtwin Rinera** – OMG Thank you! This makes me happy! *-*, Haha… Sometimes I feel like I exaggerate a lot though*sweatdrop*, say did this start of arc tore your heart in smaller pieces and finished your box of tissues? XD


	21. Chapter 21

-The Tale of Dark Blue-

-On the beginning Dark Blue was alone, in his small world of books-

-He wouldn't dare to approach even his twin, the serene Blue-

-But one day that changed when he met Black, the cursed one-

-Black once asked if he could feel anything when he stood there, just reading his books, but he didn't know how to answer it-

-Your eyes and your sanity will rot if stay here! He said, so he showed Blue, the wonders of the world!-

-The glorious ruins-

-The lovely garden of colors-

-The song of peace-

-A banquet for special guests-

-The never-ending dunes -

-Blue once asked Black what he thought it was the biggest wonder in the world, to which Black replied with a sad tone:

-The End-

"So…. This is the tale of this world", Haruka closed the dark blue book, putting on her bag.

"Why you want this book?", Masato asked, after a long pause.

"Uh? Ah! It's just that these books usually have something to do with a puzzle or pretty much tell things about the entity"

"… What entity?"

"Black's friends", she explained, "Two of them helped me"

"Why would they?"

"I'm not sure but… I think they want me to help Black"

"And you will help him", he stated, as he knew the girl enough to tell that she wouldn't be the kind to not help someone, even if they did something bad to her.

"Ah… Yes", she nodded, "To be truly honest, part of the problems are my fault, maybe even my death"

"? What you mean?"

"Nothing", she shook her head, "It's just a theory"

"…"

"W-Well, let's open one of the doors alright?"

"It's dangerous, I can do it alone"

"No you can't", she shook her head.

"Are you saying that because I'm blind?"

"No", she negated, "In my time on the last world I learned that working together increases the chance of succeeding!"

"Together? With who?"

" I made friends there, and we escaped together", she smiled, "I bet that now they are enjoying their lives as their wish got granted"

"… I see", he trailed off, "…But then again, I shouldn't be surprised, it's you after all"

"Hum? What you mean?"

"If there's someone that can make a miracle happen then this person is you"

"... I-I don't have a special power or anything, but thanks", she blushed a bit, "H-Huh, let's go?"

"Yes", he reached blind for her until her touched her hand, which made her retreat it, confusing him, "Hum?"

"S-Sorry, I got surprised because my hand hurts a bit", she laughed awkwardly, offering her other hand.

She wasn't sure if he could hear or feel the tattoo clock in her hand but she didn't want to make him suffer more than he was already suffering, and knowing that she would live only for 12 days wouldn't make him happier.

"I-Is that so? I'm sorry", he stuttered, standing up as his face got red.

She already felt bad for lying to him.

"D-Don't worry, it's fine", she stuttered.

"…"

"…"

"L-Let's go!", Haruka said, choosing to focus on using the Dark Blue Tome(that Masato gave to her) to open the closest door.

"? There's a nice smell coming from this room", she blinked, walking through the corridor until she arrived in a room full of flowers, "Wow! How beautiful!"

"What is it?", asked Masato.

"Ah! Sorry", Haruka apologized, turning to him, "It's a room full of flowers"

"…We must make sure to find the instructions of this room, this place can be dangerous"

"Y-Yes, you're right", she nodded looking around until she found the familiar sign, "Ah! Here it is!"

**-Warning!-**

**-Danger lurks in the next rooms; if you want to survive you must make four potions, the first two to use, the third to drink and the last to use.-**

**-It's better if you make more than one for this; take the Rowdy Flower with bright red and sweet aroma and mix with the green rose, boiling it until it shines a light green-**

**-The second is clean: Take the almost blue flowers and pluck it's petals, next the last, put a piece of gemstone inside-**

**-Third makes you aware: it's for drink! Yellow flowers together and the queen black in the end. But Watch out! There are two queens, one of them can kill and the other will save!**

**-The last one will be useful depending how long it will take you to notice its use; you must use rotten roots from the red flowers and mix it with water of the purified water-**

"So there are 4 rooms?", she mumbled, "Hum… I see… I only need to pick the flowers and mix them"

"… The part of purified water", Masato trailed off, "I don't think we will find it on this room"

"Huh? Why?"

"I have a feeling that it must be on one of the rooms", he shrugged, "Besides, unless it's on a pool I don't hear the sound of water running"

"Now that you mentioned… ", Haruka mumbled looking around, "I can't see water anywhere"

"There's any other ingredient beside the water?"

"No, besides the water we can find the rest here", she said walking slowly to the center with several flasks and a support to light fire, "The equipment is here too"

"Hum… Alright", he nodded, "You should take more samples than the normal, and the first room needs a lot of flasks so it's better if we pick several smaller tubes, if there's any and for the second and 2 for the third."

"What about the last one?"

"Maybe a bunch of them, the sign made it sound as if it's needed a good quantity"

"Understood", she nodded, "Well, then I will need to pick them…Er… Is it ok if I let go of your hand for a moment?"

"…Yes", he answered with a bit of reluctance.

Haruka gave a light squeeze before she let go, his hand floating in the air, in the same position as she left it, before he clenched it and dropped the hand close to his body.

'Dammit, what am I doing?', he cursed, 'I'm supposed to help her! Not be a burden'

But it couldn't be helped, he couldn't see a thing and he wasn't naturally born blind, so he wasn't used to the sensation.

He sighed.

'Well, at least I will still be able to help her with puzzles.

"Hum… I think I got enough flowers for the three potions and I have a piece of amethyst in my bag for some reason", Haruka trailed of, her hand carrying them like a bouquet, "Now I only need to find the black queen!"

-Tick Tick-

The garden was truly a sight to see, in other circumstances she would take her time to appreciate it, but she knew that she didn't have any time for that.

"I can't wait until this nightmare ends"

She stopped.

There were two big flowers of black color that had sharp edges like a crow, one was up and the other was down, both surrounded by flowers.

"There's a sign"

-There were two dark queens, one, the impostor, while the other not-

-The queen real queen is easily recognizable, even if her impostor tries to emulate her and take her place-

"…The flower that's down must be the false queen", Haruka wondered as she approached the crow of flowers, being careful to not step on them, "Both are bowing but this side looks rotten"

She plucked the flower and checked if there was anything else missing, and returned back to where Masato was, sitting on the floor calmly.

"Sorry, did I take too long?", she asked crouching to his level.

"No, I just thought that it would be better if I waited like this", he shook his head.

"Ok then", she nodded, touching his hand slight, "Say… Could you hold these flowers for me? I need to pick the flasks"

"Yes", he reached for her hand, slowly grasping the stems.

"Thanks!", she smiled walking to the table with the tubes, flasks and other objects.

'They smell nice', he wondered petting softly one of the flowers, feeling the velvet petal in his fingers, 'she arranged them well, like a bouquet'

He blushed at the thought.

'Masato stop thinking about these things!'

"Masato?", Nanami called, which made him jump, "S-Sorry, I didn't want to startle you"

"N-No, it's ok"

"Can you give me the flowers?"

"Y-Yes", he stuttered.

She picked them carefully and placed some on the bowls, taking care of cutting them with different knives (to make sure that no substance got mixed with the other), placing two bowls in front of the blue haired man.

"Masa?"

"Huh?"

"I already cut the flowers; if you want, you can help me to mix them"

"…Yes, thanks", he nodded.

'So she must have noticed my distress', he thought, a small smile on his lips, 'Always like that and always trying her best to cheer me up, ever since the first time we met each other'

'He's finally smiling', Haruka let a relived sigh.

It wasn't much but if she could make him be a bit happier then she would feel at ease too.

'It's kind of strange though', she looked at him with worry, 'While being blind isn't a small thing, considering the curses that Black places on people, it should be something way worse'

She shook her head, why was she thinking something horrible like that? Shouldn't she be happy that it was only that? Is that place affecting her so much to the point that she expected the worst to happen?

…

"Nanami, I finished my part"

"I-Is that so? Thanks!", she stuttered, picking the bowls, preparing the potions and placing them on different sized flasks and vials, "Ok! It's done!"

-Creck-

There was a loud sound as a gate appeared on the wall, opening the door instantly.

"What was that?"

"Don't worry, it's just the gate", she said, holding his hand, "Are you ready?"

"Yes", he nodded, before hesitating for a second, like he wanted to ask something, "…Nanami-san?"

"Hum?"

"Can you give me some bottles?" he said, with a serious and determined expression, "I may be blind, but you can count on me"

"Ok", she nodded, "Here, I will give you some of the first potions"

-00-

"It's too quiet", she shuddered, "And a bit dark"

"There's something here, I can feel it"

"Ah! You can feel it too?"

"Yes", he nodded, hearing a faint sound of something sliding on the floor, "Nanami-san, watch out!"

"Huh?", she blinked as he shoved her on time as something swept between then, like a long whip, "W-What is that?"

"Pick the potions!"

"A-Alright!", she fumbled, picking the vial in her hands, but when she did that something circled her waist, lifting her body, "KYAAA!"

"Nanami-san!", Masato picked one of the bottles and threw it in the directions of her screams, hoping to hit whatever it was.

There was a sound of a screaming banshee before something fell on the floor with a thud, as well as the sound of glass shattering.

"Nanami! Are you ok?", he clumsily stumbled, running to her direction until something picked him, "What?Ugh…"

"Masato!", Haruka cried, flinching a bit as her hand was a bit bloodied because of the pieces of the vial cutting her skin, "Ugh…!"

She ignored the pain in her hand and picked another vial, but before she could approach the boy, another thing hit her ankle and made her stumble, which made the vial fly from her hand and land on something.

There was another high pitched sound.

She looked in the direction where the vial hit, narrowing her eyes until she finally saw what it was.

It was a giant carnivorous plant.

"OH MY…!", she tried to contain herself and not let a horrified scream as she saw that the place she hit the plant had melted!

'So this is an acid made for them!', she looked at her hand, relived that her hand wasn't melting.

"Ack!"

'Ok, now I must save him!', She nodded picking another flask and throwing at the nearby root, which made the plant stop moving, falling on the floor with a loud sound.

'Almost there…! Urgh!'

Another root picked her by her arm, squeezing it.

"Ahh!", she cried in pain, trying to desperately stop it, pulling the root with her free hand, which to her surprise, made a sound of something burning, flinging her.

"Urgh… What happened?", she thought looking at the hand she used to free herself before realization hit her.

Her hand was soaked with the potion!

Looking up, she saw that she landed right below the plant that held Masato.

Picking the knife she used to cut the ingredients for the potion she slashed the base, which made another sound as the plant shook until it dropped him.

"Urgh! Cof Cof", he coughed.

"Are you alright?", she ran to him, trying to ignore the pain of falling twice.

"I can move", he nodded, standing up, weakly, with Haruka supporting him.

"What a relief!", she breathed in relief, picking the knife and placing in his hand, "Here, this is the knife that I used to cut the flowers of this potion, you can use it"

"… You picked the other knives too?"

"Yes", she nodded giving an awkward laugh, when she saw how he arched an eyebrow, "I-I got pretty paranoid and more prepared after surviving from dangerous situations"

He shrugged and let her drag him, trying his best in not stumbling and slowing down, while making sure to pick any sound and slashing at it.

They did it for awhile until there was no potion left, so every time a plant tried to pick them she just held it with her hand, still soaked in the poison, hurting them enough to let them go.

"Ah! We're almost at the exit!", she screamed, opening the small door.

They entered the other room falling on the floor. With a synchronized kick both closed it.

"We're alive"

"Barely", Masato nodded.

They stood there, on the floor until their heart slowed down.

"…Nanami-san am I hurting your hand?", he asked suddenly, taking his hand off.

"Huh?"

"I was holding the hand that you said that was injured"

"Eh? Ah! No!", she shook her head.

"… Why did you give me this hand?"

"Well… You see… The first time I fell I had a vial on my hand and it broke"

"What?!", he let a surprised gasp, blind trying to grasp her arm until he slowly slid his fingers to her injured hand, furrowing his brows as he felt the warm liquid there, "You should have told me before"

"I-It's pretty ok! I have some plasters and medicine here"

"… I will pick the shatters", he stated, trailing his fingers carefully, using them to pick the pieces and slowly placing them on the ground.

Haruka squirmed, feeling a bit uncomfortable as the soft touch of his fingers made her skin tickle a bit.

"… I think it's done", he whispered softly, "…Can you give me some plasters and medicines?"

"O-OK!", she nodded, using the other hand to pick the items on the front pouch.

"…I will try to make it as painless as possible", he picked the bottle and piece of cotton, wiping the blood so gently that she could barely feel it touching her skin.

He slowly wrapped the gauze around her hand neatly, holding her hand as if it was made of a frail material, and slowly putting her hand back on her lap when he finished.

"Thanks, you did a good job on it", she said in awe, admiring his work.

"Glad to be of assistance", he nodded giving her the rest, "… Where are we now?"

"I think… In front of a lake?", she blinked, "It's huge! And there's some… Things floating on the surface"

And it reeked like a corpse.

"Nanami, are you ok?"

"Masato, I know it's rude to say this, but you're lucky that you can't see", she paled, "It's a horrifying sight"

She shuddered.

"Let's be fast then"

"Y-Yeah", she replied weakly looking everywhere, in hopes of finding a bridge, but without luck.

"…Did you find anything?"

"N-No"

So that meant…

That they needed to use the corpses as a bridge?!

"Haruka…?", he tried to call, taking a step and reaching her arm.

"I-I'm alright", she gulped, trying to shallow hard as she felt sick, "Just… Hold my arm and walk slowly, ok?"

He felt the edge in her voice but didn't comment on it, deciding to trust in her.

Haruka took a step, sweating as she stepped on it, the body moving a bit, but otherwise being ok.

"B-Be careful!"

He stepped on it, losing a bit of balance and wondering exactly on what he was stepping as he felt it was stiff and soft at the same time.

'It's stinking', he furrowed his brows as they slowly made the crossing, "Like… Something rotten?"

Does that means…

"Nanami, are we stepping on corpses?"

She froze. Bad move.

"S-Sorry, I didn't hear you", she laughed awkwardly as she started to walk again.

"…"

They finally stepped on the other side and Haruka almost felt like falling on her knees, but didn't because Masato was still holding her arm.

He felt him pull her and embrace her trembling body.

"…I'm sorry", he whispered softly, "You're helping all this time, but I could barely do the same for you"

"Ah! T-That's not true…!"

"… I'm bad and expressing my feelings or even knowing how to make someone feel better", he said hugging her tighter, "…But you always cheered me up when you hugged me, so I hope this works with you too"

"Yes", she smiled, closing her eyes for a moment and forgetting where she was, "I feel better, thanks Masato"

"Glad to hear that", he also smiled before he decided to let go of her and take a step forward, "But… I guess you would feel better if we got far from this stinking lake"

"Y-Yes", she agreed before she thought of something, "Wait! The second potion! We didn't use it!"

She slowly took the vial and approached the border of the red lake, picking an empty flask and collecting the "red water" and dropping the content of the second potion inside.

"Ah! It's slowly turning transparent!", she took the last vial and mixed them together, "Now we have all of the needed potions!"

Groans.

"W-What is that?", she stood up, taking some steps back.

…It was only her or the lake looked as if it was moving?

"GRAAA!", a bloodied corpse jumped from the red water, gripping the border.

"AHH!", she shrieked.

"Haruka!", he took a step, but soon he found himself being dragged by the girl.

"Let's go! Let's go!", she quickly took him by hand and ran.

-00-

There was a sigh of relief as soon as they closed the door, with Haruka taking no time to pick another potion.

"Here", she gave him a flask, "We need to drink this according to the sign"

They both nodded and drank it.

"Hum… This looks like a garden", she looked around, "It has a wonderful fragrance… I hope it takes the weird smell of the other room"

"We need to be on guard in case something happens"

Haruka agreed, both very silent as if they expected to be jumped at any second.

…But nothing happened, they passed through the long corridor until the other end without any problems.

"Strange"

"Maybe it's because of the potion", he rationalized, "I think that if we forgot to drink it we would be dead by now"

"Yes, I think you're right", she nodded, opening the last door and paling, "Uh-Oh"

"…What's on the other room?"

"It's a forest of spikes", she looked worried, "It will be hard to pass through it"

"… Do you have a spare knife?"

"Yes, why?"

"You can't hold my hand for this", he replied, holding the knife she gave him.

"But…!"

"Don't worry", he gave her a small smile, reassuring her, "This may be the only room that I can go on my own"

"Masato… All right", she nodded, picking her own knife, "We will meet each other soon!"

She held his hand tightly before she let go, trying to cut the nearest branch so she could enter the forest.

Masato took a few steps before he tried to reach for the first branch, using the knife as an extended hand to touch the spikes so he could determine where they were.

'Now it's my turn'

He slashed the blade aimless, cutting a lot of branches and kicking the pieces so he could get more space to enter the small opening.

Yes, they both thought that it was better to crawl as cutting all of the branches would take a while.

'It's the last room before the key', his heart beat fastly.

Should he wait until Haruka got the key? Or should he be there? Ah… But after she took the key and something happened to him… It would be better if she found him dead before she discovered the truth.

…The truth about his full curse.

-00-

"Ouch!", Haruka hissed as she scratched her arm.

It didn't matter how careful she was. There were so many thorns that she couldn't avoid them!

Ah… She started to feel dizzy...

"I'm badly hurt", she notices with worry while staring her arm, "I think I may be losing a lot of blood"

'The last one will be useful depending how long it will take you to notice its use'

"The last potion!"

She started to cut more branches to giver her space to pick the bottle on her bag, opening it carefully and inspecting the contents.

What was she supposed to do with that?

She dipped her fingers, and stared them, carefully, to she placed on one of the cuts and was in awe when the cut disappeared.

"I see… This is a healing potion", she smiled feeling a bit better, "I will pass some more before I continue"

She must have taken a lot of time when she finished, because she felt something cold pressed to her skin.

"Kya!", she squeaked, looking behind her and seeing a familiar blue hair.

"N-Nanami?", Masato stuttered, his eyes widening, "Ah! Sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"No", she shook her head, before giving a long stare, "Wow, you're barely hurt!"

"I used the knife to feel around and took slower", he explained, "But I thought that you were already out of this place"

"S-Sorry, I was feeling dizzy because of my injures so I used the last potion to heal them"

"Oh… So that's the function of it?"

"Yes"

"It could be useful in the future"

"Uhum", she hummed in agreement, "Ah! Let's hurry; you must have some cuts that need treatment right?"

They went through the forest for a bit longer until they arrived at the other side.

"Ah…! Finally, I was feeling a bit claustrophobic!"

"Hum, it wasn't as bad as the first room"

"True", she nodded with a laugh, "Masa, let me see your wounds"

"… Don't worry, I can treat them"

"Even on your back?", she blinked.

"I may have some, but it isn't anything serious"

"Still, we should check", Haruka replied with a serious tone, "What if these spikes have a special property? It's better to be safe than sorry right?"

"… Ok, but I will also check for you injures"

"R-Right", she blushed, she took a piece of cloth, dipping a bit of the potion and cleaning his back, incredible aware of his slow breathing.

"You have delicate hands"

"Thanks"

"Do you still play piano?"

"Yes"

"…I see"

"And you?"

"Hum?"

"Do you still play it?"

"Only when father isn't home"

"Uhum… Did you have any other teacher after we were gone?"

"No"

"Well… So in this case… What about me being your teacher?"

"Sorry?"

"I learned a lot from my father, I could teach you", she smiled, "Like in the old days"

"It would be nice"

A silence befell then, but it was the good kind of silence as they just smiled and dwelled in the promises of being happy like the older days.

"It's your turn"

"Right", she nodded, taking her shirt so it would be easier for him to pass the potion, shivering because of the cold.

Masato must have sensed it, because he started to rub his hands before he put the liquid, trailing his warms fingers over her skin, his heart beating loudly against his chest.

"There"

"Thanks", she puts her shirt quickly, standing up, "Now, it's better if we find this key!"

But there was no need for that, as soon as they opened the door the key found the key, resting on a small pillar on the center.

'Strange', Haruka furrowed her brows while picking the key, 'There's no protection and 2 rooms were fairly easy, it's like…'

The key was meant to be found easily.

But why?

"It's better if we go, a door appeared", Masato warned snapping her of her thoughts.

"Masa… Are you ok?"

"Hum?"

"A-Ah, sorry I didn't know where it came from", she quickly apologized.

Maybe it was because of his uncomfortable, but at the same time, relived face?

…Or because… She felt something was off?

'I must sleep a bit', se thought with determination, 'Even if it cost precious time I need to see what's going on'

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**Because Masato has a short arc I put a bit of romance for him as a consolation prize HAHAHAH XD**

… **Next chapter you will know what's his FULL curse! KEKEKEK~**

…

**Ok, review time!**

**Starlight346 –**Oh dammy! I failed AHAHAH XD, miss you're the only unfazed, may I ask if you at least didn't feel a bit sorry for poor Masa? XD

**brandnewmelody – **Yep, sad indeed, and you will know in the last chapter of his arc!

**Rtwin Rinera- **Glad that you like my drama-llama HAHAA XD, really? This makes me happy, after all, I love Masato and he rank second favorite in voice preference! ^^

Masochist! LOLOL, Ok, buy the chocolate and tissues! And you're pretty sharp! You will know the full extent of his curse next chapter!

**GlamGurl17- **Honestly, I myself wonder about that, maybe it's because of the stuff I read XD**  
**


	22. Chapter 22

"There's only one key left...", she held his hand while the other was holding the fifth key, her tears falling on his hand.

He looked too still… If his hand wasn't warm she would have mistaken him for a corpse.

She shuddered at the thought.

It didn't matter how much she tightened her grip he wouldn't hold her hand back, maybe he wasn't even be able to tell if she was there or not.

If it wasn't for his curse…

"I'm sorry", she sobbed again.

"…Haruka"

Haruka opened her eyes, meeting Masato's worried face.

"Are you ok?", he asked concerned, "You were crying"

"H-How long I was sleeping?", she asked rubbing her face.

"15 minutes"

"I-I see… Good that I didn't take so long", she trailed off, trying to recompose herself.

This "future vision" was very different from the others, this time, this time she could see not only her talking, but discern her own feelings and thoughts at the moment.

"…It's just a dream, there's no need to worry"

Her eyes widened.

Her dream-self mentioned about a curse right?

"Masato… What's your curse?"

He froze on the spot.

'It must be something serious', she blinked now fully awake and holding his hand, feeling a strange relief when he unconsciously gripped her hand back, '… What kind of curse is that? To make him… Like that?'

"It's… Nothing that you need to worry about, Nanami-san", Masato replied, trying to avoid the question.

"No it's serious", she said, her body shaking, "My curse is to see the future Masato, and what I saw was… Worrying"

"…"

"Please"

"I can't tell you", he said again, "I'm sorry"

'At least, not until we get hold of the next key', he thought, his heart clenching, '… After that I won't be able to hide it anymore'

"Besides, we don't have time to lose", he whispered, "Right? Nanami…"

In a fit of panic, she instinctively put her hand on the clock tattoo.

Did he know about her time limit? If yes, then how?

"Let's go", he said trying to walk with her nodding in silent agreement as she was still shocked.

'… So what Black said is true', he furrowed his brows as Haruka held his hand, avoiding looking at him.

In these short minutes he was visited by the dark entity, which told him to stop wasting her few living moments and hurry up.

He didn't know exactly what he meant by that, but somehow felt that it was urgent.

"A-Ah... Let's open the next door!"

The book glowed as always and the door was opened, but as soon as they stepped inside two chairs jumped on them and they found themselves chained to the objects that ran to a long and thin table, which had more "people" sitting there.

"Oh, new guests, how wonderful!", said a sickening sweet voice.

Both turned to the voice and Haruka saw a pale and thin woman, which had greased hair and a sickly appearance, wearing an ugly grey dress.

… And in her neck was a tied a familiar key.

'The key!'

"Could you please tell me your names?", said the woman with a very unsettling smile.

"…"

"…"

"Ahem, I think I wasn't clear enough", said the woman, opening her mouth, full of sharp teeth and assuming a semi nightmarish form.

"H-Haruka Nanami", Haruka answered.

"Masato Hirijikawa", Masato also answered, a bit worried with the distress in the girl's voice.

"Oh great, pleased to meet both", said the woman turning back to the normal, "Today you're invited to eat with me!"

"Ma'am you should change your dress!", said a voice in one of the chairs, a doll with almost human appearance.

"Yes! Yes! We want to see your new dress!"

"Ah you're right my sweeties", said the woman, "I will dress up, I hope our guests don't try to run away~"

The woman entered a room, closing the door with a loud sound, and as soon as she did that the main door was closed with chains.

-00-

"T-Thanks for helping us", Haruka said with a grateful voice as the doll, stuck in the chair, nodded.

"It's dangerous", said another doll, "Miss serves poisoned food for the guests, with few being safe to eat!"

"Yes, yes", nodded the other, a beautiful blue doll, "And she will hurt you if you don't eat it!"

"W-What can we do in this case?", she asked, a bit uncomfortable as the last experiences she had with dolls was… Unpleasant.

"We can help you", told a red doll with a collected voice, "We can tell you what food is good to eat, but we can't be too obvious about that or we will be done for"

"O-Ok"

"We will alternate", said a green doll, "First to give you clues will be Red, then Blue, Me and Pink"

"Pink?"

"Over here!", said a doll in her side, which made her jump, "Don't worry! It will be fine!"

"I'm back!", said the woman, wearing an extravagant dress, which made the contrast with her ugliness more evident, "Now, let's serve the food right?"

She summoned a small silver bell and started to shake it.

A group of butlers carrying trails of food appeared, putting delicious pieces of fish, meat and other good looking and exotic foods on the decorated table.

But it didn't fool them for a second.

"I know it's a lot of food, and you look hungry", said the woman, "Be free to eat as much as you want!"

'This food is poisoned… I must be careful'

She discretely looked at the red doll that had a look of indifference as she put small chunks of fish, radish, cauliflower and cheese.

Food with the color being mainly white, got it.

'Hum… But what about Masato? He can't see', Haruka thought with worry as she looked at the bluenette across her.

Hum… She had an idea.

"Er… Excuse me", she said in the most humble and polite voice she could manage, "My friend can't see so… Is it ok if I put the food he wants on his trail?"

The woman arched an eyebrow and stared her with distrustful eyes.

'I hope my idea works', Haruka thought trying her best to not gulp.

"Fine", the woman shrugged.

Haruka bowed thanking her and started to pick the food.

"…Aren't you going to ask your friend what he wants?"

"I want everything that's she's eating", Masato answered quickly to her relief, blessing him for his fast thinking.

"Hum… Fine", the woman said with a clearly unsatisfied voice.

They ate in silence, with Haruka incredible aware of the abomination's stare.

"How's the food?"

"W-Wonderful!"

"Heheh, thanks I have the best chefs here", replied the prideful creature.

'It's better if we feed her ego so she won't transform'

But truth to be told the food wasn't half bad. It's just that the dangerous situation made it difficult for her to properly appreciate it.

"Well, now, let's eat some desserts right?"

"I want the cakes! The cakes!", the dolls started to cheer.

"Today I want strawberry pie", said the red doll.

"Chocolate cake!"

"I want brownie", said the green doll in a bashful voice.

"Lemon pie~!", the pink one cheered.

"As long as birds aren't involved I accept anything", said the blue doll, nodding.

"Huh…", Haruka trailed off.

"What a… Weird request", the abomination looked at the blue doll that shrank in her seat.

"… Back in my house I too was served different kinds of food", Masato said suddenly, capturing the woman's attention, "There were some that weren't made with eggs"

'Oh! I see, it's food without eggs!'

"I was surprised back then and it was kind of tasty"

"You too are a noble?", said the woman with interest.

"I wouldn't say noble per say, but I do have the money for that"

"Oh… I see…"

"Is there any food like that?", he asked, "It's been a while since I last eat a sweet like that"

"Oh yes, of course!", said the abomination with large smile, "This coconut pumpkin pie, brownies, cookies and tart!"

"Hum… I see… Thanks"

Haruka picked the desserts that the host pointed and put in their plates, eating a small piece.

"Well, well", it replied, in good humor, "Was that good?"

"Hum… Better than at home, I never tasted these"

"Hahah, like I said, I have the best here!"

"Good thinking, flatter her so she won't pay attention!", whispered the pink doll to her with a cheeky grin.

"I just hope it works"

"Ah… I bet you must be very thirsty~", she clapped her hands, the butlers taking the trails again and putting different kind and sizes of glasses with colorful liquids.

"You must mix the complementary colors in the color spectrum", the green doll whispered to Masato picking blue and orange juice, mixing the together and drinking them, "Here, want to try?"

"What are you doing?", asked a grave and dangerous voice.

"I-I was just offering the juice to him, missy", the doll apologized.

"There's no need for that", the woman snapped her fingers.

The next moment it could only be heard the sound of something being ripped apart and the gasps and horrified screams of the others dolls.

Haruka covered her mouth with her hands, closing her eyes so she wouldn't see the blood pouring from the doll's neck.

"Butlers!", The abomination called with a bored voice as the servants took the doll and dumped it on a trash, "Oh! And take the glass in front of our dear guest! Blood fell on it!"

'Damn!', he silently cursed, clenching his fists.

Haruka was also worried, the green doll was the one supposed to tell her the trick of this round, but now that she was dead…

"Say… Don't you know which drink is safe?", whispered Haruka to the pink doll.

"No", she whispered back, "We only know the rules of each set of food"

"Oh my…"

"But it seems that green told your friend the trick", the pink doll reassured her.

'… I need to think', he tried to compose himself, 'The opposite colors… Because it's a pigment I will go with the CMYK colors'

It may be true that he was blind now, but he still remembered the colors.

The primary colors are: Magenta, Blue and Yellow, the secondary are the mix between them so:

Magenta + Blue = Purple

Magenta + Yellow = Orange

Yellow + Blue = Green

The "warm" colors are put on the left side and the "cold" ones on the right side, complementary colors are the colors that doesn't enter the combination of the other, like Orange being Magenta + Yellow with no Blue, so Blue is it's complementary. The others combinations being:

Complementary:

Orange: Blue.

Magenta: Green.

Yellow: Purple.

"Nanami-san"

"Y-Yes?"

"There's any Yellow or Purple drinks? Orange and Blue? Red and Green?"

"Yes?", she slowly nodded.

"Could you make a combination of one of them? I feel like drinking a mix of two flavors"

"Alright", she picked the glasses and did two different mixes.

One being a combination of Orange and Blue and the other being Yellow and purple.

'This must be the answer!'

They both drank it, and to their relief nothing bad happened.

"There's something fishy here…", The abomination started to growl.

The creature's body started to stretch and long arms started to appear with sharp pincers on the tip, making it look like a grotesque centipede.

The dolls started to shake, with a devilish grin, the creature picked each doll with its pincers and started to shove them into its mouth, making a horrible sound of something breaking while they screamed.

It didn't last long, the screams suddenly stopped.

"Sorry, they must have been bothering you", said the creature back to human form, "I will ask the butlers to bring soup, you must be almost full so it will be the last thing you will eat"

Haruka gulped, even without the dolls to give them tips she knew that both bowls place in front of her and Masato were poisoned.

'What can I do…', she started to panic, 'I-I doubt that the host's soup is poisoned but… There's no way I can switch it without being noticed!'

"Well, aren't you going to eat it?"

"I-It's kind of hot", Haruka stuttered giving a crooked smile.

'I need to think of something quickly!'

There was no way to escape, she saw what the abomination did with the dolls and she didn't want it to happen to her or Masato.

'Is there anything that I can use?', she thought in a fit of panic, reaching for her bag, her fingers touching a cold surface.

What was that?

As discretely as she could she picked the material and put it on her lap, her eyes widening when she recognized the flask.

'It's better if we make more just in case'

It was the potion of the other room!

"This one… It's the one that I used in the blood lake", her eyes widened.

It worked with blood so maybe she could use it to purify the soup?

'We don't have any other option; I hope it's enough for us both'

She got her face close to the bowl and started to blow it, using her face to hide the liquid being poured on the soup.

"I think I can eat it now", she said hiding the flask and taking a spoon, her heart beating fast on her chest.

Nothing happened.

'Ah! It worked!', she breathed in relief as she saw the liquid slowly turning transparent, like water, 'Feels pretty weird to drink water like this'

"Your soup has a strange coloration, let me see it…", the woman took her bowl, "WHAT? Why is it transparent?!"

She took the bowl furiously going to another room.

"Masato, take this", Haruka gave him the flask, "It's the purifying potion"

"I see… I was wondering how you ate it without nothing happening, I'm glad that we did an extra potion", he nodded hiding it.

"Here! This time I made sure to fill your bowl!", said the woman putting the bowl in front of her, "Now eat it!"

Oh no! She gave the potion back to Masato and the monster was staring directly at her! There's no way to avoid being poisoned now!

"You're acting weird", said Masato, "Is there anything on this soup?"

"Of course not!", said the woman with a pleasant smile, "We are sharing the same soup! Look, I will eat mine to show you that there's nothing wrong with it!"

'It doesn't prove anything', thought Haruka as the woman gulpe a large spoon of soup.

"See? There's nothing w… Ugh", she put her hands on her neck as if she got something on her throat, looking in bewilderment at the bowl, "W-What?"

She started to struggle and punch the desk a few times, gasping for air until her movements ceased.

"What… What happened?", Haruka blinked in confusion, "I didn't think that she would pour poisoned food for herself"

"I switched the bowls when she was distracted", said Masato standing up, reaching for the key in the creature's neck, "Now we just need to take the… Uck!"

"Masato!", Haruka got up, putting a hand on his shoulder as he held his neck, coughing a bit, "D-Did you get poisoned?!"

He shook his head weakly, and when he did that she saw a dark blue tattoo glowing and disappearing.

'What was that?', she wondered in worry.

Masato cough stopped and he breathed slowly, reaching to the key once more and taking it from the pendant.

Nothing happened this time.

'I saw it happening before', she blinked as the memory of the earlier room flashed on her mind, 'When I picked the key he looked uncomfortable'

"Masato… Does your curse have anything to do with the keys that we pick?"

"…"

He avoided her opting to let his face stare the floor.

"Masa…"

'It didn't matter how much she tightened her grip he wouldn't hold her hand back, maybe he wasn't even be able to tell if she was there or not.'

The memories of the future vision came back to her as her eyes widened in horror.

There was… There was always something that puzzled her since he gave her the first key.

It was hard enough to beat the place in perfect conditions, the two rooms proved it, so how he managed to beat the first room while being blind?

Unless…

"Masato, can you hear me?", she asked, her heart beating fast.

He nodded.

"Can… You feel my touch?", she trembled while she gripped his hand, his hand closing back.

How didn't she notice it before?

Her eyes started to tear up.

It was her fault. She helped him reach this state.

"You… You can't talk right?", she asked, wishing to be proven wrong.

"…"

"I… I'm sorry!", she started to cry hugging him in a tight embrace, "Now I understand the dream… I don't you to end like that!"

So that was his curse, after struggling to survive each test he would lose one of his senses when he got the key to exit this place.

He couldn't see, talk and probably smell anything as she didn't notice anything off before.

'I can't do it; it's too cruel!'

She remember the scene with a precision that made her want to throw up, he looking dead as she held the fifth key…

Why was she holding the key? She thought with a startle. Surely, she would have noticed before what was going on.

Masato put his arms around her in a comforting hug.

He wished he could say comforting words to her, even if he couldn't see her face he knew that tears didn't suit her.

There was only one thing to do.

He tilted her head and kissed the teas away; giving his best smile as if to say that everything would be alright.

He took her hand and slowly trailed his finger on it, as if he wanted to form words.

"I'm sorry", she read, "There's no need to cry, I will be ok"

"Masato…"

"We need to go on", he nodded, "We need to escape"

"How… How can I do it? I don't want to make you lose your remaining senses!", she started to sob again.

"It's my fault; once again I made you suffer"

"It isn't your fault!", she shook her head, "I… There must be a way! I can't bear to see you like this!"

The fifth key.

She stopped in her tracks as she remembered this odd thing.

Why would she go on? Did she find anything worth to risk her friend's life?

…No, it didn't matter what it was, she would never do something like this.

The only thing that would make her go on was if she found a way to undo it.

'As soon as you complete the path you're allowed to remove someone's curse', Black voice echoed in her head, as if he was whispering close to her ear.

"T-That's it!", she said with a great smile, "My wish can solve this situation!"

"?", he stared her with confusion.

"As long as I escape Black's cursed places I'm allowed to remove a curse!", she said, hope rising, "So… Maybe, if we escape together I can give back your senses!"

-00-

"It isn't as easy as you think Nanami-san", Black whispered looking at the crystal panel, "If my curse kills him then you won't be able to remove it"

The boy was lucky for not being killed in any of the 3 rooms.

…But there were still 3 more rooms left, and it wouldn't matter if they survived until the last one, death would be his fate in the last door.

"He has something else to lose beside his five senses"

**-0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000-**

**I FINALLY UPDATED! HORAY~!**

**Yeah, if you remember there's 6 doors total, and they beat 3 of them.**

**Remember when I told you people that Haruka would lose more than 1 day? Yeah, last room will have something to do with it.**

…

**OK, REVIEW TIME!**

**GlamGurl17**- So did I surprise you with this chapter? Hahaha, I may surprise you again with the route's end :D

**Rtwin Rinera-** Hahah~ Glad to hear that, but poor Masa, he's suffering so much in this fanfic, I feel kind of sorry for him XD

Inspiration? In which sense?

If it's the colors then I randomly choose them, if it's the idea of creating them then it's because of the first puzzle.

I just meant to write the tale only to be a puzzle but then I though "Sure, why I don't make them as characters?", and their personalities are made in a way that can help Haruka ^^(Blue[the one in Kaoru's route] was there, she helped them in the painting room)


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